


It's Chemistry

by HopeMikaelsonClarke



Series: It's Chemistry [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chad is a jerk, F/M, He doesn't know boundaries, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:01:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 43,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22323745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeMikaelsonClarke/pseuds/HopeMikaelsonClarke
Summary: Doug turned his head to look at Evie and smiled before realizing how small of a space there was between them since she had her arms around his neck and was leaning over his shoulder, causing his cheeks to warm up.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants), Jane/Carlos de Vil, Jay/Audrey Rose (Disney)
Series: It's Chemistry [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606843
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

When the paper first came into his line of vision, Doug was confused, until he realized who exactly was _holding_ the paper. Evie. While she might be the daughter of the woman who his father and uncles hated, Doug could not help but like Evie. She was smart, and beautiful, and actually seemed to like talking to him and being around him. Honestly, when he had admitted that he was, for all intense and purposes, stalking her, Doug had thought that Evie would have wanted nothing to do with him, but he had been wrong.

Doug turned his head to look at Evie and smiled, before realizing how small of a space there was between them since she had her arms around his neck and was leaning over his shoulder, causing his cheeks to warm up. She made a comment about her grade, but Doug didn’t really hear her. If either of them leaned in, they would be kissing, and the thought of kissing Evie Royall was something that Doug had dreamed about doing since he had first seen her.

Leaning forward, Doug lightly pressed his lips to hers, testing the waters to see how she would react. When she didn’t pull away, Doug pulled her onto his lap and deepened the kiss. It felt right, kissing her. And the feeling that welled up inside of him when Evie started to kiss him back was indescribable. Here he was, the son of Dopey, kissing Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen, and she was kissing him back. Pulling away from the kiss when air became necessary, Doug leaned his forehead against Evie’s.

“You’re amazing Evie Royall.” Doug whispered, scared that if he said too much, that he would ruin the previously perfect moment.

“You’re not so bad yourself Doug Dworsky.” Evie replied as she gave him another kiss.

“Evie... now that I’m not just popping out from having stalked you, would you officially be my date to Ben’s coronation? Despite what people think about our families, I would be honored to have you as my date.” Doug asked as he peered into her eyes.

“I would love to Doug.” Evie responded before turning back to her Chemistry test without moving off of Doug’s lap. “I bet I could get an ‘A’ on the next one without the help of the mirror.” She said as she glanced at him.

“I know that you can. Maybe later tonight we could meet up and study together?” Doug suggested hopefully.

“Would it be a date?” Evie asked.

“Only if you want it to be. I might not be a Prince, but I am definitely more of a gentleman than someone we know.” Doug said as he nodded in Chad’s direction.

“And to what are you implying that you will be a gentleman about?” Evie asked with a small smile.

“If m’lady would like it to be a date, I shall come to your dorm and pick you up, and then after we are done studying, I shall walk you back to your dorm.” Doug said as he lightly pulled Evie even closer to him on his lap.

“I would love for it to be a date.” Evie replied. “Shall we do some homework now? Or do we just want to wait until tonight?” She asked.

“We can get some of it done now. That way we won’t have as much to do tonight, and if we finish everything, we would have more time to do other things.” He suggested as he placed a kiss on her cheek.

“Sounds good to me.” She replied as she turned towards the table and pulled Doug’s textbook closer.

After the new couple had been working in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, they were interrupted by Mal hurrying over.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you literally everywhere.” Mal said to Evie.

“What’s wrong?” Evie asked as she looked up at her best friend.

“Ben just asked me out...” Mal said before looking around and lowering her voice, “on a date.” She finished.

“We can get through this.” Evie said with a smile before turning back to Doug. “See you later?” She asked.

“Of course. I’ll be by your dorm around 5.” Doug replied before Evie got up and gave him a small kiss before linking her arm with Mal.

“Okay, I’ll see you at 5.” Evie said with a wink before she and Mal headed towards their dorm.

For the next hour or so, Doug sat at the table and did some more of his homework while Evie was in her room helping Mal get ready for her date. And while they were both doing other things, their minds were on their study date later that night. Doug had had a crush on Evie since he had laid eyes on her when she and her friends had first arrived, and despite her façade of looking for a Prince, she had liked him from the get-go as well and he being Dopey’s son made his forgetfulness adorable to her.

After Ben had picked Mal up and the two had left, Evie had sat down at the table in the middle of hers and Mal’s room and started doing some more of her homework. She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she had completely lost track of time, and before she knew it, there was a knock on her door. Looking at the clock, Evie’s eyes widened. It was already 5 and Doug was there to pick her up, and she hadn’t even started to get ready. Sure it was just a study date, but it was technically hers and Doug’s first date and she had wanted to look good for it.

After she composed herself, she walked over to the door, and took a calming breath before she opened the door. She had a huge smile on her face but when she saw who was standing on the other side of the door, her smile fell. It wasn’t Doug, it was Chad.

“What are you doing here Chad?” Evie asked.

“I wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have told the teacher about your mirror.” Chad said as he leaned against the door frame and smiled at her.

“You need to leave Chad.” Evie said, realizing that she felt nothing towards him like she had originally thought she had.

“Is that really what you want?” Chad asked as he pulled her towards him.

“Yes Chad, it is. I have someone coming over tonight, and he should be here any minute. You were using me to get out of doing your homework, but I’m not going to fall for your gleaming smile anymore. I know that you don’t really care about me, and I don’t want anything to do with you.” Evie said as she pushed him away from her.

“Evie? Chad? What’s going on?” Doug asked as he walked up to the two and looked between them.

“We’re just talking Doug.” Chad said with a smile.

“No... Chad was just leaving after a pathetic attempt at apologizing.” Evie corrected.

“Are you ready to go Evie?” Doug asked turning from the young prince to his... Evie.

“Not yet, but you can come in while I get ready. I should just be a couple of minutes.” Evie said as she pushed Chad farther out of her doorway before pulling Doug inside and closing the door in Chad’s face.

“Are you okay Evie?” Doug asked as he took in Evie’s shaken look.

“I want to be, but I’m not.” Evie said as Doug pulled her into a hug.

“Hey, I’m here now. You don’t have anything to worry about.” Doug said as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Can we study here? I don’t want to go out there if there’s a chance that he’ll still be out in the hall.” Evie asked in a small voice.

“Of course. All I care about is getting to spend time with you.” Doug said as he pulled back to look into her eyes before pressing his lips to hers.

“I actually finished all of my homework already.” Evie said when they pulled away after a couple minutes.

“It’s okay, so did I. That gives us quite a bit of time to do other things, if you’re still up for doing something else.” Doug said with a hopeful smile.

“That sounds amazing.” Evie agreed as she walked the few steps to her bed and sat down on the edge, followed by Doug.

“What are you comfortable with doing?” Doug asked in a low voice. He wasn’t about to pressure her to do something that she wasn’t comfortable doing.

“We don’t really date on the island... so I don’t know what couples usually do when they are alone like this.” Evie said in a small voice before pulling her knees up to her chest and moved against her pillows.

“We don’t have to worry about what other couples would usually do. We aren’t other couples. We can do whatever you want to do.” Doug said as he moved to sit next to her and put his arm around her shoulders so that she could lean against his side.

“Can we just do this? This is nice.” Evie asked as she laid her head on Doug’s shoulder and wrapped her arms around his torso before closing her eyes.

“Whatever you want.” Doug repeated before kissing the top of Evie’s head and closing his eyes as well.


	2. Chapter 2

Mal was nervous. She had never been on a date before, so she had no idea what she should do. Should she try and hold Ben’s hand if he didn’t try to hold hers? Should she try to kiss him if he didn’t initiate one first? Should she tell him about herself and the life on the island first? She had no idea what Ben was going to be expecting of her on this date, and that made her nervous.

But even with all of her nerves going haywire, Mal wasn’t really sure why she even cared about Ben was expecting. She was the daughter of Maleficent, The Mistress of All Evil. She was trouble, she was bad and she was evil. Mal should not care what the soon to be King thought. She was a schemer. At least she was would be, if she was actually going to follow her mother’s orders. But she was caught between listening to her head, which was telling her to get the wand at the coronation, and her heart, which was telling her that she should not have put Ben under a love spell to accomplish such a feat.

“Is this your first time?” Ben asked, pulling Mal from her thoughts.

“We don’t really date on the island, it’s more like...” Mal replied before continuing, “gang activity.” She finished, causing Ben to laugh a little.

“I meant is this your first time eating a jelly doughnut.” Ben clarified.

“Is it bad?” Mal asked, suddenly getting a little self-conscious.

“Let me help you.” Ben said as he leaned in and gave Mal a quick kiss, effectively getting a little bits of powdered sugar off of Mal’s lips.

When Mal pulled away and turned to look out over the water, Ben became confused. He didn’t think that he had done something to insult or offend her, but then again, Ben knew next to nothing about the magenta haired girl sitting in front of her. He knew that she had been raised on the island, and that her mother was Maleficent, but other than that, he didn’t know who she was.

“I’ve done most of the talking, but what about you? Tell me something about you that no one else knows.” Ben said, hoping to get her to open up to him some.

“Everyone thinks that I know who my father is, but I don’t. I have no idea who could have liked my mother enough to be with her, or how she went about having me. But I know that I had to have been conceived on the island because I’m only 16, and the villains were sent there by your father 20 years ago, so it wasn’t someone from Auradon.” Mal said.

“Do you have any siblings?” Ben asked.

“Not really... I mean, I have Evie, Carlos and Jay, and they are all the closest thing that any of us have to siblings, but to my knowledge, my mother didn’t have any other children other than me.” Mal replied. “What about you?” She asked.

“I’m an only child as well. Even after my mom broke the curse on my dad, they were cautious about trying to have too many children right off the bat, because they weren’t sure if there was a chance that since my father was a Beast for so long, that even though it was a curse, if his offspring could be carrying the curse as well. So, they got married, but held off on trying for children, and then had me after they had been married for 4 years. But while my mom was in labor, there was a complication, and she isn’t able to have any more children.” Ben said, and now was his turn to look away.

“Oh, Ben, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I shouldn’t have asked.” Mal said as she grabbed Ben’s hand, in what she somewhat hoped was a comforting gesture.

“It’s okay Mal. Like you said, you didn’t know. How could you have known? It’s not something that people outside of my family and a few loyal servants of ours know. And it really wasn’t something that my father wanted to let get to the island.” Ben said as he looked back at Mal and tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him. “I’m going to kiss you again, is that okay?” He asked in a low voice as he leaned in slowly.

“Yes.” Mal said with a small nod.

As the moments passed on, Mal got lost in the kiss. At some point, she had moved closer to Ben, and then soon after that, he had gently laid them down, but Mal had lost track of how long they had been in their embrace. There was, however, something nagging at her. Was it guilt? Was it regret? Was it the necessity of air? Whatever it was, Mal gently pushed Ben up from on top of her.

“Why do you keep pushing me away Mal?” Ben asked with a sigh.

“Something just doesn’t feel right.” Mal said before promptly slapping a hand over her mouth.

“What doesn’t feel right?” Ben asked as he stood up before helping her into a seating position before going to stand by one of the pillars, facing away from Mal.

“I really like you Ben, but I don’t think you really like me. At least not to the degree that you think you do.” Mal said in a small voice.

“Meaning what?” Ben asked, his anger growing inside him.

“You’re under a love spell Ben. The cookie that you ate before the game. It had a love potion baked into it.” Mal admitted.

“Why did you think that you had to give me a love spell to get me to like you? There was clearly a connection when you and your friends first got to the school. I know that you felt it too... and Audrey sensed something, or else she wouldn’t have acted as possessive as she had.” Ben said as his hands clenched into fists.

“I thought you might have just been being friendly. Like I said... we don’t date on the island, I have nothing to base your actions or whatever towards me on. I have no past experience with guys liking me. I didn’t know if you would like me to the extent that I was starting to like you on your own. I thought that if you were under a spell, that I would be able to figure out what it would be like to have someone like me, but I still don’t.” Mal explained as she stood up and walked up behind Ben and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m going to go for a swim. Do you want to come?” Ben asked suddenly, shrugging Mal’s hand off of his shoulder as he took his jacket off.

“I’m okay...” Mal said trailing off at the end.

“What? Is Maleficent’s daughter scared of water?” Ben teased.

“I’m not scared of water. I don’t know how to swim.” Mal said before slapping her hand over her mouth again.

“You live on an island.” Ben pointed out.

“And because of your father, there’s a barrier around it. We can’t get off the island to even get to the water.” Mal snapped.

“I could teach you.” Ben offered.

“Maybe some other time. I’m actually getting kind of tired.” Mal said with a sigh.

“Do you want me to take you back?” Ben asked.

“You can swim if you want to, don’t let me stop you.” Mal replied with a shrug of indifference.

“Mal, I’m not going to force you stay if you want to go back.” Ben said.

“I’m fine Ben, really. Go for a swim. I’ll just rest some here while you do.” Mal said as she moved to lean back against one of the pillars.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a little bit then.” Ben said as he stripped down to his swim shorts and then jumped into the lake.

As Ben was swimming, Mal returned to her thoughts. Did she really want to steal the Fairy Godmother’s magic wand at Ben’s coronation by tricking him into asking her to be his girlfriend so that she would be up front with him and his parents? She was starting to think that she didn’t want to do that. But then again, her mother had told her to do it, so therefore, what choice did she have? Mal shook her head, she was being foolish. She was the daughter of a villain, the only way that she could have a chance at happiness was if she did what her mother told her to do and not screw up.

After some time, Mal noticed that it was starting to get dark, but Ben hadn’t returned from his swim. Standing up quickly, Mal looked around. She didn’t see him anywhere, and all she could hear was her rapid breathing.

“Ben!? Ben! Where are you!?” Mal called out.

When he didn’t respond, she didn’t think twice about jumping into the water. She knew that she couldn’t swim, and she had even just mentioned it to Ben, but not seeing him, and not hearing him, was really scaring her, and she was not going to let something small like Ben disappearing on their date to be pinned on her. However, as the water started to get deeper, Mal started to struggle. She needed to find Ben, but not knowing how to swim was hindering her process in doing so. Soon enough though, Mal was being carried out of water by Ben.

“You scared me!” Mal exclaimed as slapped Ben in the chest after her placed her on the platform.

“I’m sorry Mal. I never meant to scare you.” Ben said with an apologetic smile.

“Can we head back now?” Mal asked in a small voice as she looked away from Ben again.

“Of course.” Ben said as he grabbed his jacket and wrapped it around Mal’s shoulders.

Once everything was cleaned up, Ben took Mal’s hand in his to help her navigate through the trees and back to the bridge. For a prince that always seemed to have everything go his way, the date with Mal had felt like it hadn’t gone completely right, but at the same time, hadn’t gone completely wrong. Ben wasn’t sure if it was because of him, or because of Mal, or because of them being together, but one thing he did realize was that since his swim, he was seeing Mal more clearly. Ben realized that swimming in the Enchanted Lake had washed away the remnants of the love spell that Mal had placed on him.

The trip back to the school had been a silent one. Neither Mal nor Ben said anything, but it wasn’t completely awkward, they were both just lost in their thoughts. And as a gentlemen, Ben still walked Mal back to hers and Evie’s dorm. Ben wanted to kiss Mal again, but the thought of her pushing him away for a third time held him back a little. However, when Mal opened the door, she saw Doug and Evie both asleep on Evie’s bed, her blue haired friend curled up against Doug’s side.

“Let’s go to your room.” Mal said in a whisper as she lightly pushed Ben into the hall and quietly closed the door.

“Is everything okay in there?” Ben asked.

“Evie and Doug are asleep on Evie’s bed. I don’t want to disturb them.” Mal replied. She might be Maleficent’s daughter, but she cared deeply for her friends and wanted them to be happy.


	3. Chapter 3

Doug woke up in the middle of the night to a weight on his chest. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room that he was in, it took him a couple minutes to figure out where he was. But once he looked down at his chest, everything came flooding back. His kiss with Evie; her agreeing to go to the coronation with him; them meeting up at her dorm to have a study date, only to realize that they had both already finished all of their homework and then falling asleep on her bed.

Taking in Evie’s sleeping form, Doug felt a smile form on his face. Evie still had her arms wrapped around his torso, and her head slid from his shoulder onto his chest, and was currently resting on top of his heart. Watching her sleep made Doug’s heart beat just a little bit faster; a motion that he figured Evie could hear and feel since she started to stir and her eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Hey beautiful.” Doug said a soft voice.

“Hi.” Evie replied after a moment or two of getting her bearings.

“Did you have a nice nap?” Doug asked as Evie sat up.

“Yeah, I think so.” Evie said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“It’s almost midnight, do you want me to leave?” Doug asked as he made a move to start to stand up.

“NO!” Evie said quickly as she pulled him back to her.

“What about the curfew?” Doug asked.

“I don’t care about the curfew... I want you to stay.” Evie said as she pleaded with her eyes.

“What about when Mal gets back from her date with Ben?” Doug asked.

“I’m sure that they are probably back by now...” Evie said as she trailed off as she looked towards the door to her room. She really had no idea if her best friend was back from her date or not.

“Evie...” Doug said slowly as he turned her face towards him again.

“Yes Doug?” Evie asked.

“Can I kiss you?” Doug asked.

“You don’t need to ask.” Evie said as they both leaned in and pressed their lips together.

As the kiss progressed, the young couple deepened it. Soon enough, Evie was laying on top of Doug as their arms wrapped around each other, holding the other close. They were so into the other that at first they didn’t hear the small knocks coming from the door. But as the knocks got louder and they became more persistent, Evie pulled away and looked over at it before looking down at Doug. His clothes were disheveled from their make-out session, and she was sure that she looked similar. No matter who was outside the door, there would be no way of covering up what they had just been doing.

“Evie... I know you’re in there... open the door.” Came the insistent voice of Carlos.

“I’ll try to get rid of him.” Evie said to Doug.

“I don’t mind if he needs your help with something Evie. He’s one of your closest friends.” Doug said with a shrug.

“Okay.” Evie said before pressing a quick kiss to his lips and getting up from the bed, straightening out her clothes and hair as much as she could as she went to the door and opened it. “What’s wrong Carlos?” Evie said as she opened the door wide enough to let her friend into the room.

“So um, you know how Mal helped with fixing Jane’s hair?” Carlos asked, half acknowledging Doug being in the room.

“Yeah, of course I do.” Evie said as she went to sit with Doug.

“Well... ever since then, I can’t stop thinking about her... Jane, I mean. She’s really cute, but I’m not sure if she would like me or not.” Carlos said with a sigh.

“You’ll never know unless you try and make a move.” Doug said as he wrapped his arm around Evie’s waist.

“But what if she doesn’t like me and gets scared?” Carlos asked.

“There’s always going to be a risk in whether or not a girl likes you back, but again, you have to try, and if it goes well, then that’s great; if not, then it wasn’t meant to be. All you can do is try and hope for the best.” Doug replied.

“Carlos, why didn’t you talk to Jay about this?” Evie asked after a moment.

“He’s dead to the world... I figured that there would be a better chance that you would still be up... you know, talking to Mal about her date.” Carlos said with a shrug.

“I’m not sure if Mal is back from her date or not. And Doug and I had actually been sleeping until just before you got here...” Evie said with a smile and a small kiss to Doug.

“Oh... okay. I didn’t realize that I was interrupting a more _intimate_ moment...” Carlos said with a smile as he headed towards the door.

“Carlos...” Evie said warningly.

“It’s really quite alright E. I’ll leave you and Doug alone to get back to ‘sleeping’.” Carlos said putting air quotes around sleeping.

“C...” Evie groaned as her friend slipped back out into the hallway before closing the door, but not before sending a wink in the couple’s direction. “I will get him back for insinuating that something more was going on.” She muttered.

“Evie, are you ashamed of us being together?” Doug asked.

“Of course not... I just don’t want people to know what we do when we’re alone because it’s none of their business.” Evie said with a sigh.

“Even if people think that we did something that we didn’t, as long as we know the truth, shouldn’t that be what matters most?” Doug asked.

“I suppose so.” Evie said after a minute or two of contemplation.

“All I ask is that you keep in mind that I will never force you to do something that you don’t want to do, or aren’t ready to do. If Carlos spreads a rumor that we had sex, just ignore the whispers and we’ll be fine.” Doug said as he pulled Evie into his arms.

“He wouldn’t spread a rumor to the rest of the school... but once Jay wakes up in the morning, there’s no guarantee that he wouldn’t casually say something to Jay.” Evie said as she leaned back into Doug’s embrace.

“Carlos and Jay both care about you Evie, that much I know. Despite the four of you having the parents that you do, I doubt that they would do something like start a rumor about your personal life.” Doug said.

“I’m sure you’re right.” Evie said as she tilted her head to the side so that she could press another kiss to Doug’s lips.

After a couple minutes the two pulled away from each other and stared into each other’s eyes. Evie had always heard that a person’s eyes were the window to their soul, but all she could see reflected in Doug’s eyes were her own. Was that what he saw when he looked into her eyes? Was this what infatuation felt like? Or even more, was this what the beginning of love felt like? Did seeing yourself in someone else’s eyes mean that you were their soulmate?

“Doug?” Evie asked in a small voice.

“Yes Evie?” Doug questioned.

“What does it feel like to love someone?” Evie asked.

“You don’t know?” Doug asked back. “Surely you’re mother showed you love.” He added.

“No... She never did. I have no idea what love is because I never received it from someone. I mean, I know that I care about you and my friends, and that you all care about me, but I’m not sure if any of that is love.” Evie explained.

“Love is when you always want to be around someone else, you constantly think about them and their well-being when you aren’t together, and simply enjoying their company even if you aren’t doing something intimate.” Doug said after thinking about it.

“Do you love me?” Evie asked in a small voice again.

“I think I might be getting there.” Doug replied honestly. “Do you think you might love me?” He asked hopefully.

“I’m not sure how capable I am of loving someone, but I would definitely like to fall in love with you.” Evie said with a smile.

After that, the couple fell into a comfortable silence before Evie got up to change into her sleep attire. Despite Doug’s comment earlier in the day about being a gentleman, Evie could feel his eyes on her as she changed as quickly as she could. It was only as she was climbing back into the bed and settling under the covers that it dawned on her that Doug had nothing to wear to bed. And when she looked over at him, her cheeks turned red. In the time that it took her to change and then move the pillows off of her bed, Doug had removed his jacket, shirt and pants, and was now just wearing his boxers.

When Doug noticed Evie staring, it was his turn to go red. Nervously swallowing, Doug tried to meet Evie’s eyes, but was having a hard time keeping his eyes from wandering over the upper half of her body. This was new territory for both of them, and neither of them knew where to go from there. It wasn’t until Evie snapped out of her haze that she folded the covers back and patted the empty space next to her before Doug sat down and pulled the sheet and comforter over himself.

“Good night Doug.” Evie said with a sleepy smile as she laid down and placed her head on his chest while he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close.

“Good night Evie.” Doug replied before they both fell back to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

After Mal and Ben had gone to his room, things between them hadn’t exactly been smoothed out. Mal was still being distant, and Ben still wasn’t 100% sure as to why she was acting that way. Sure, she had mentioned that she hadn’t dated while living on the island, but was she really that unsure of what a date entailed that she didn’t want him to kiss her? She had also mentioned that she wasn’t sure that a connection could have been formed between them without the help of the spell, but now that the spell was off, unknowingly to her, Ben was going to show her otherwise.

“Mal, can I show you something?” Ben asked as Mal stood by the window looking out.

“Sure... what is it?” Mal asked as she turned to face him.

“This...” Ben said as he carried a small square box over to where Mal stood.

“Ben...” Mal said cautiously.

“It’s not a ring Mal, you don’t have to worry.” Ben said as he opened the small box and showed Mal a perfectly preserved rose petal.

“Why are you showing this to me?” Mal asked in a small voice.

“My mom kept it after she broke my father’s curse. She said that it reminded her of the beauty that can come from such a seemingly unassuming thing. She fell in love with my father when he seemed like nothing more than a selfish and controlling Beast. She looked past his appearance and looked to his heart and found love there. When I was old enough to understand that same meaning, she gave it to me. When she fell in love with my father, he seemed to be a villain... and she loved him anyway. She hoped that by giving it to me that I could find the same thing. She was nothing more than a commoner and an outsider, falling in love with a cursed Prince. I don’t care about your past Mal, nor do I know what your mother’s intentions are by being okay with you and your friends coming here, but I’m showing you this to let you know that I see love in your heart. You might not know what love is, but it doesn’t matter. I love you Mal. I really do.” Ben said and when he looked up to see her reaction, he saw tears filling Mal’s eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” Mal said as she quickly wiped the tears away and turning back to look out the window.

“Please talk to me Mal.” Ben pleaded.

“I can’t...” Mal said as she clenched her hands into fists and closed her eyes.

“Yes you can Mal... I won’t be upset.” Ben said causing Mal to spin around suddenly, her eyes glimmering bright green.

“I can’t tell you the truth Ben. I don’t _know_ how to tell you the truth. There’s a huge chance that if I tell you, that you won’t want to be around me anymore, and then everything would have been for nothing. You might think that you won’t be upset, but you also don’t know what would happen to me if you dismiss me from your presence and I fail.” Mal said angrily.

“Just tell me what your mother wants you to do, and we can figure everything else out after that.” Ben said as he moved towards Mal, only for her to duck out of the way and walk past him.

“She wants me to steal the Fairy Godmother’s wand, okay?” Mal said. “Happy now? I gave you a love spell so that you would ask me to be your girlfriend and I would get to be up front at your coronation. I’m supposed to steal the wand and then bring it back to my mother. Evie, Carlos and Jay all know about the plan. Everything that my mother told us to do; everything that I’ve done to get us closer to that goal, including the love spell on you, they have known about. That’s also part of why Evie was trying to get to Chad. She thought that maybe if she was with him, that she could get closer to the wand as well, especially given who his parents are, but he ended up being a huge ass-hat, and used her.” Mal said with a glare.

“Mal... the love spell is gone. It washed away in the lake today.” Ben said quickly before he could think better of it.

“What are you talking about?” Mal asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“It’s the Enchanted Lake Mal, did you really think that by me taking a swim in it, it wouldn’t wash away any kind of spell that someone is under?” Ben asked.

“I never considered it. Then again, I had no idea that it was called the Enchanted Lake.” Mal scoffed.

“The point is Mal, my feelings for you are real. I love you, with or without a love spell. I wouldn’t have shown you the rose petal or told you about my parents if I didn’t. And honestly, I never even showed that petal to Audrey or even mentioned it to her. She would ask me about the Enchanted Rose of legend, but I would never tell her what she wanted to know, because deep down, I knew that I never loved her. I was waiting for the right girl to come along to share that part of me with. I never thought that I would find that girl in the daughter of a villain, but I did, and I couldn’t be happier that it’s you.” Ben said, his inner Beast growing and shrinking as if breathing heavily, ready to come out at any moment.

“You can have any girl that you want... why me?” Mal asked as she stared intently at him.

“I have no idea Mal. You make me feel something that I’ve never felt with anyone else before. Shouldn’t that be enough? I love you, and whether you know how to love or not, my feelings for you aren’t going to change any time soon. And as I said before, you told me the truth and I’m not upset. It’s something that has probably crossed my parents’ minds as a possibility of happening with you and your friends here. What I am upset about is that you are belittling yourself because of who your mother is. I hate that you think so little of your importance, and is your heart really into doing something that you don’t really want to do?” Ben asked.

“That’s not fair Ben.” Mal retorted.

“Life’s not fair Mal; you should know that already. Was it fair that my father sent all of the villains to the Isle of the Lost? No. Was it fair that you and your friends, and all of the other children there are being talked down to because of your parents? No. Is it fair that you are being forced to steal the wand even though you know it’s not the right thing to do? No. Nothing in life is fair, even for a Prince, so don’t even try to bring that up.” Ben argued.

After Ben’s little speech, Mal was silent for a few minutes as she looked between him and the small box with the rose petal in it and then back at him. Walking over to where the box was sitting on Ben’s bed, Mal picked it up and stared at it. Gently picking it up, Mal studied the petal intently for a moment before turning around to look at Ben.

“What does your mother want you to do with this petal once you find the girl that you love like she loves your father?” Mal asked.

“She never told me. She did say that I would know what to do with it once I found that love. Do you know a spell or something that could preserve it as a pendant or something?” Ben asked.

“No. Magic doesn’t work on the island, so I’ve never learned to actually use magic much. I was going with my gut when I started changing everyone’s hair.” Mal said with a shrug.

“Where is the spell book?” Ben asked.

“In mine and Evie’s room.” Mal replied.

“Then in the morning, when you go back to get ready for school, grab the book, and then at lunch we could look through it together and find something. Until then, I’ll keep the petal here.” Ben said with a firm voice, leaving no room for argument.

“Sounds good to me.” Mal said with a shrug.

“Now, will you push me away if I kiss you again?” Ben asked as he pulled Mal towards him.

“Kiss me and find out.” Mal replied.

As Ben started to lean in, Mal pulled away and moved past him. When Mal tried to move back towards him, she was forcefully pulled backwards and away from him. Before either of them could say or do anything, Mal was engulfed in bright green smoke. And before the smoke that was engulfing Mal disappeared, another cloud of bright green smoke engulfed Ben.


	5. Chapter 5

When Evie’s alarm went off, she had started to roll over to turn it off, but was stopped by Doug’s arm around her waist. At some point since they had fallen back asleep, they had moved into a spooning position and Doug was not ready to let Evie move out of his embrace quite yet. Placing a line of kisses on Evie’s bare shoulder, and leading up to her neck, Doug tightened his grip slightly on Evie’s waist.

“Doug, the alarm is really annoying.” Evie said with a giggle as Doug continued to place kisses along the length of her neck.

“Can’t a guy kiss his girlfriend awake just once?” Doug asked before both of them froze a little at his words.

“G-g-girlfriend?” Evie got out slowly as she turned over to look into his eyes.

“I mean... I just thought that since you wanted me to stay last night... and because you agreed to be my date to the coronation... but if you don’t want to be, that’s fine.” Doug said quickly as he reached over and turned the alarm off and sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from her.

“I’m just surprised. You haven’t actually asked me to be your girlfriend, so it was simply surprising.” Evie replied just as quickly as she moved to be kneeling behind him and placed her hands on his arm.

“I know that I haven’t asked... I had planned on making a spectacle of it, and asking you to be my girlfriend in some grandiose way, but then it just slipped out, and now that plan is out the window, because I wanted to surprise you.” Doug said as he put his head in his hands.

“I don’t want something grandiose and a spectacle. I just want to be with you Doug.” Evie said as she moved to the floor in front of him so that she make eye contact with him. “I just want you to ask me.” She said as she pulled his hands into hers and laced their fingers together.

“Evie, will you be my girlfriend?” Doug asked.

“Of course I will.” Evie said with a huge smile.

“So what would you like to do today?” Doug asked after pulling Evie into a kiss.

“Well, we never had our date last night. Even though it was only supposed to be a study date, I would really like to go on a date today. If that’s something that you’re okay with doing.” Evie suggested.

“That sounds amazing. But I do have go back to my own dorm and change.” Doug said with a small, sad smile at the thought of having to leave Evie.

“That’s unfortunate.” Evie said with a pout.

“It would take me an hour tops.” Doug said with a smile.

“Okay...” Evie replied as she stood up and climbed back onto the bed and laid back against her pillows.

“You’ll have to get ready too Evie.” Doug said as he watched her.

“I know, but I want to surprise you with what outfit I end up wearing.” Evie said as she stretched slowly, keeping her eyes on Doug to gauge his reaction when her shirt moved up her stomach a bit.

“You wouldn’t freak out if our outfits ended up clashing?” Doug asked as he leaned towards her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Not at all. The only times that we need to make sure that our outfits don’t clash are when we are going to an important event... like a dance or Ben’s coronation.” Evie replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him up so that he was hovering over her. “Kiss me.” She said in a low voice.

Doug didn’t need to be told or asked twice. As soon as the words were on Evie’s lips, he pressed his to hers and it was quickly deepened. Evie swept her tongue against Doug’s mouth, and with a moan from him, was given entrance. If this had happened before yesterday, Doug would have thought that he was dreaming, and he would have felt a little depressed when he woke up, but he knew that it wasn’t a dream. He was actually heavily making out with the Evil Queen’s daughter.

“Evie, Mal, I think that you two should... what the hell is going on?” Lonnie asked as she walked into Evie and Mal’s room, without knocking, causing Evie and Doug to quickly break apart.

“Next time you want to come into mine and Mal’s room, and the door is shut, knock first.” Evie said as she glared at the other girl.

“Doug? Why her?” Lonnie asked, seemingly not hearing Evie’s words.

“That’s not of your business Lonnie. But I think you should leave now.” Doug retorted as he wrapped his arms around Evie and pulled her closer to him.

“She’s a villain Doug. Her mother is the enemy of your entire family.” Lonnie commented.

“I am well aware of who Evie’s mother is, and how she is connected to my family. But that does NOT make Evie a villain. She did not choose who her mother is.” Doug argued as his grip tightened a little in comfort around Evie as she buried her head into his shoulder.

“You are able to marry Snow White’s daughter... yet you go for her. I don’t get it Doug. You could have gone through life without any drama if you had just chose the girl that was offered to you.” Lonnie said with a shake of her head.

“I have nothing in common with Snow and Ferdinand’s daughter. She’s a good friend, but that’s all she will ever be to me. And again I say, you need to leave.” Doug replied.

“She’s not worth your time Doug.” Lonnie said as she left the room with another shake of her head.

“Don’t listen to her Evie. Just because other people here don’t see you as such, I know that you are Princess.” Doug said as he rubbed Evie’s arm.

“She just barged in here, uninvited, talked down about me and my mother right in front of me, and told you that you shouldn’t be with me. How can I just ignore her?” Evie asked in a small voice.

“By focusing on something else. By focusing on something that makes you happy. So what makes my beautiful Princess happy?” Doug asked.

“Sewing, cleaning, cooking... and being with you.” Evie replied immediately.

“Okay then. I can’t help much with the first three, but I can definitely help with the last one. So how about this, I’m going to go back to room to get ready for our date, you get changed and I’ll be back in an hour. Wear something comfortable, because I know exactly where I’m going to take you.” Doug said as he kissed Evie’s forehead before getting out of bed and pulling his clothes on.

“Doug... do you really see me as a Princess?” Evie asked as she got up herself and went over to her closet.

“Of course I do. And I’ll explain why on our date. Just focus on us today, and you’ll be able to ignore what Lonnie said.” Doug said placing a small kiss on her lips before slipping out into the hall.

As Evie went about her routine of getting ready for the day, her thoughts wandered. She was curious about how Mal and Ben’s date had gone the day before, and she was excited to tell her best friend about the advancement in her own relationship. She wondered if Carlos was going to take Doug’s advice from last night about just going for it and asking Jane out, and if Carlos had mentioned the moment between her and Doug that he had interrupted to Jay or not. And she was interested in knowing whether or not Jay had found someone that he genuinely liked and wanted to go out with. But above all of that, she was anxious about where Doug was going to be taking her on their date. Soon enough, Doug was knocking lightly on the door before sticking his head into the room.

“You ready to go?” Doug asked.

“Yeah.” Evie said with a smile as she stood up and walked over to him and linked her arms with his before stepping out into the hall with him. “So, where are we going?” She asked.

“To your castle.” Doug replied easily, but shut down any further questions.

The journey from Auradon Prep to what Doug said was Evie’s castle took a couple of hours, but it wasn’t an uneventful trip. Doug asked questions about Evie’s life on the island, and Evie asked questions about Doug’s life in Auradon. She asked him how well he knew her step-sister, Snow White, and he asked her how well she really knew her mother and what her mother had done to Snow. Evie had admitted shortly into the journey that she knew her mother’s side of the story, but didn’t know Snow’s side, so she had been raised with a biased view of her other family.

As they got closer to their destination, at least once Doug said that they were getting close, he took Evie’s hand in his and laced their fingers together so that he could lead her to the castle. It was also at that time that Doug asked Evie if she trusted him, and when she said that did, he asked her to close her eyes and trust him, since he wanted her first sight of the castle to be one of complete surprise. As Doug guided her, Evie started to try and imagine what her castle would look like. She had asked her mother a few times when she had been younger what the castle looked like, but her mother never told her. But now she was going to see it first hand, and if what Doug said was true, there was a chance that she would be able to live there one day. _‘Maybe with Doug.’_ The thought was a fleeting one, but it was more than welcomed. Soon enough, they came to a stop.

“Okay Princess, open your eyes.” Doug said as he moved to stand right behind her, so that he could wrap his arms around her waist.

“Oh my...” Evie said as she took in the sight in front of her, while being acutely aware of every spot on her body that was in contact with Doug. “You’re sure that this is mine?” She asked.

“100% sure. Once Ben is crowned king, he can reinstate your royal title, and this will be your castle. You will be a Princess, and whether you marry a guy who is already royalty, or one who isn’t, he would be a Prince, so once you get engaged, and you inform your mother, you wouldn’t have to lie about marrying a Prince if he isn’t already one.” Doug said before pressing a light kiss to her cheek.

“And Ben will definitely reinstate my title and status?” Evie questioned.

“Of course he will. Despite what the rest of the school thinks, you are a Princess. And while she is more a villain than anything else, you mother is a Queen. The only thing that I cannot promise you is if your mother would be allowed off of the island to see your wedding and/or move here with you.” Doug said before Evie spun around in his arms and gave him a huge kiss.

“Wait... this is the castle that Snow White grew up in, right?” Evie asked once she pulled away.

“Yes.” Doug replied.

“Then why isn’t she living here?” Evie questioned.

“Because when she and Prince Ferdinand go married, they moved into his castle, not hers.” Doug explained. “Your mother was the last person to take up residence here, so with her on the island, and Snow not wanting the castle, its ownership goes to the next heir, and that’s you.” He continued.

“Oh.” Was all Evie could get out before she turned back. “Can we go inside and look around?” She asked.

“Whatever the Princess wants, she shall have.” Doug said as he pulled a key out of his pocket.

“Where did you get that?” Evie asked.

“My father. I think he was the one that Snow liked the most... just don’t mention that to any of my uncles.” Doug said with a small laugh.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. I’m sure that your uncles wouldn’t want to meet me. You know, being _her_ daughter and all.” Evie said as her face fell.

“Don’t think like that Evie. When my uncles, and my dad, meet you, and I promise you that they will, they are going to see exactly what I see. A girl who is nothing like her mother, and someone that I care deeply about.” Doug said as he took her hand and led her to the front door. “And now... your castle awaits.” He said as he unlocked the door and pushed it open before standing to the side to let Evie enter first.

For the next few hours, Evie walked around the castle with Doug at her side. She wanted to see as much of it as she could before they would have to go back. Occasionally, Evie would ask Doug if he knew about one thing or another around the castle, but it wasn’t until they reached the wishing well before Doug really knew something that he thought was worth knowing.

“Is this where Snow first met her prince?” Evie asked as she walked around it and ran her hand along the edge.

“Yes. She was singing into the well, and Ferdinand heard her over the wall right over there.” Doug replied.

“Do you think anyone has come here since Snow and Ferdinand got married?” Evie asked in a small voice.

“I know that my father used to stop by every once in a while right after they got married, but none of my uncles ever came with him, so he stopped coming. I don’t think anyone else has though. We would be the first ones since him.” Doug said.

“I want to live here so badly.” Evie whisper.

“You can live here Evie. Just as soon as Ben is crowned king.” Doug replied.

“Would you live here with me? I’ve never lived somewhere by myself before.” Evie asked as she turned to face him.

“Of course. What’s the point of living in a huge castle if you have no one to share it with?” Doug replied.

“Thank you for bringing me here. I never would have known how amazing this place is if it weren’t for you.” Evie said with a small smile.

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t do things that made my girlfriend happy?” Doug asked.

“I don’t know... I’ve never had a boyfriend, and none of my friends from the island have dated anyone before, so I don’t have a basis of how a boyfriend should treat a girlfriend.” Evie said.

“Well, if he has good intentions, then a boyfriend should treat his girlfriend with respect and should do everything that is in his power to make her happy.” Doug explained. “And that is exactly what I plan to do for you.” He added.

“It’s going to be pretty late by the time we get back, should we head out?” Evie asked.

“Of course.” Doug replied as he took Evie’s hand in his and led her back through the castle.

The journey back to the school was a more subdued one. With a lot of the topics that they had been wanting to cover having been talked about on the way there and while they were there, there wasn’t much that either of them could think to talk about on the way back, but that was okay for them. Both of them were lost in their thoughts of what the future with Ben as King would hold for them. They had, in a non-specific, and very vague way, agreed to get married, but neither of them wanted to admit that that was what Evie was really asking when she asked Doug if he would live in the castle with her.

Once they arrived back at the school, the sun had just started to set, and everything was in chaos. All of their friends were running around, but it wasn’t until Evie and Doug saw Carlos and Jay run by that they were able to find out what was going on.

“Oh thank god you two are okay.” Jay said as he pulled Evie into a hug.

“We were on a date... but what’s going on?” Evie asked.

“Ben and Mal... did you guys see them at all today?” Carlos asked.

“No... I haven’t seen either of them since yesterday afternoon when Ben picked Mal up for their date last night. I just figured that when she wasn’t in the room this morning that they had just gone back to Ben’s room.” Evie said as she glanced over at Doug.

“They aren’t there. They aren’t in your room. Mal’s not in the kitchen, everyone is saying that if Ben were to be going to his parents’ castle that he would have at least mentioned it to someone, but no one, and I really do mean no one, has seen or heard from him all day, the same with Mal.” Jay explained.

“Is there any trace of them having been in Ben’s room since yesterday afternoon?” Doug asked.

“This was sitting on Ben’s bed.” Audrey said as she stomped over and thrusted a box with a solitary rose petal into Evie’s hand. “Do you know anything about this?” She accused.

“Do you really think that if I, Jay or Carlos knew where Mal was, that we would still be here?” Evie asked.

“You three are her best friends, and you are the kids of villains, why should we even trust what any of you say?” Audrey asked.

“If you don’t trust us, why ask if we know anything about our own friend’s disappearance?” Jay threw at her.

“Whatever, come on Doug, let’s go find Ben.” Audrey said as she tried to pull Doug away from Evie.

“I’m not going with you Audrey, I’m going to help Evie find her best friend, and chances are, in finding Mal, we’ll find Ben too.” Doug said.

“Let’s go find our friends.” Carlos said as he started walking towards the guys’ dorms.

“Please be somewhere safe Mal.” Evie whispered, and felt Doug squeeze her hand in reassurance.


	6. Chapter 6

Mal slowly opened her eyes and looked around. It seemed like she was in some kind of old time dungeon, but it was too dark to make anything out. One thing that she was able to make out was a figure hunched over in the cell next to her. She couldn’t remember anything before the green smoke, but she knew that her mother was involved... somehow. When she tried to take a step towards the other person’s cell, the other person was pulled away from her. As her eyes started to adjust to very dim lighting, Mal realized that her wrists were in shackles behind her back, and that the chain that the shackles were attached to ran across the ceiling and to the far side of the other cell, to where it was connected to another pair of shackles that were bound around the other person’s wrists.

That’s when it hit her. All of the images from hers and Ben’s date; her finding Evie and Doug asleep on Evie’s bed when she and Ben had gotten back from their date; her and Ben going back to his room and him telling her about his parents; him trying to kiss her after they had argued where she had told him the entire truth, only to be forcefully pulled away, and then engulfed in the green smoke that could only belong to her mother, and then seeing the same colored smoke engulf Ben. This was all Mal’s fault. She had told Ben the truth, and now they were both prisoners somewhere that her mother could easily get to them if she needed to, or even wanted to.

“Ben?” Mal called out.

“Mal? What’s going on?” Ben asked.

“My mother kidnapped us.” Mal said.

***

Carlos had no idea if there would actually be anything that could help him, Jay, Evie and Doug find Mal and Ben in Ben’s room, but it was worth a try. Audrey and the others might have looked in Ben’s room, but they weren’t the children of villains, and if both Ben and Mal were missing, there was, in Carlos’ mind, a good chance that Mal’s mother had something to do with the two teens’ disappearance. And with that there was, again in Carlos’ mind, a good chance that he, Jay and/or Evie would be able to see something that the others wouldn’t have seen.

“Carlos, what exactly are we looking for?” Doug asked once the four of them had reached Ben’s room.

“Signs that Mal’s mom is involved in Ben and Mal’s disappearance.” Carlos said as he slowly started to look around the room intently.

“What makes you think that she’s involved?” Jay asked as he went to the opposite side of the room as Carlos.

“As much as Mal doesn’t want to disappoint her mother, I could see that she wasn’t 100% wanting to give Ben that love spell.” Evie commented.

“Ben’s under a love spell?” Doug asked.

“Yes. It was in the chocolate chip cookie that she offered him before the game the other day.” Evie replied.

“E!” Jay and Carlos exclaimed together.

“I’m not going to hide something like that from my boyfriend, so back off!” Evie snapped.

“Wait, wait, wait. Boyfriend? When did this happen?” Jay asked.

“This morning.” Evie and Doug replied.

“Was this after I barged in on you two last night/early this morning?” Carlos asked with a smirk.

“Yes Carlos, it was after that. It was when we woke up this morning. After we back to sleep once you left.” Evie bit out with a half-hearted glare.

“Dude... you slept with Evie last night?” Jay asked Doug.

“Okay, first of all, it’s none of your business Jay. And second of all, even if it was your business, mine and Evie’s relationship status is not what’s important right now. Right now, we need to find Ben and Mal and, if they are in trouble, save them.” Doug replied.

“OF COURSE!” Evie exclaimed as she started to dig around in her purse.

“Did you find something?” Carlos asked.

“No... But I just remembered what we can use to find them.” Evie said as she pulled her magic mirror out of her purse.

“Why didn’t we think of that?” Jay asked glancing over at Carlos.

“Because we aren’t as smart as Evie is.” Carlos said with a shrug.

“Magic Mirror, in my hand, show me where to find Mal and Ben, across this land.” Evie said with as much of a steady voice as she could muster.

“Where are they? And was I right in assuming that Mal’s mom has something to do with it?” Carlos asked.

“Oh my god... they aren’t in Auradon... but _she_ was involved.” Evie said as tears started to fill her eyes.

“If they aren’t in Auradon, where are they then?” Doug asked.

“They’re in the dungeon of Maleficent’s place on the island.” Evie said as she a small cry was emitted from her throat.

“Are you sure it’s the island and not her old fortress?” Doug asked slowly.

“She’s sure... the map is pointing to the island.” Carlos said in a sad voice as he looked between Jay and Evie. “We have to go back to the island to save them, but would we be able to leave again once we do?” He asked in a small voice.

“What are you all doing in our son’s bedroom?” King Adam asked in a booming voice, causing the four teens to turn around in surprise.

“You’re Majesties.” Doug said with bow as he indicated that the others should do the same thing.

“Doug, what is going on here? Fairy Godmother said that no one has seen or heard from Ben all day.” Queen Belle commented.

“Ben has been taken, as has Maleficent’s daughter... by Maleficent herself, although we do not know how or why. And as far as why we are in Ben’s room, it’s because we were trying to find any trace that they might have been in here before they were kidnapped.” Doug explained.

“Oh for goodness sake Doug, we’ve known you your whole life, you don’t have to continue bowing to us.” Queen Belle said with a warm smile, but one that didn’t reach her eyes, she was clearly worried about her son.

“You’re Majesties, we know where Ben and Mal are, but we are not sure how exactly we would get there to save them and then get back.” Evie said as she glanced up quickly, but stayed in her curtsy.

“And where are they?” King Adam asked.

“They’re on the Isle of the Lost, being held captive in the dungeon that Maleficent fashioned herself underneath her place of residence.” Evie explained.

“What is the confusion then? You three will return to the island in exchange for our son, and then all four of you will remain there, permanently.” King Adam said.

“Adam, sweetheart, they are here due to a decree made by Ben, not you, only he would be able to send them back permanently.” Queen Belle said to her husband before turning back to face the four teenagers. “We shall get you there to save Ben and Mal, and then we will make sure that all of you come back.” She said in such a way that gave her husband no room to argue before they turned to start walking away.

“You’re Majesties?” Carlos asked.

“Yes?” King Adam said as he and his wife turned around.

“There’s no way of getting us there without our parents finding out, is there?” Carlos questioned.

“I’m afraid not. It has to be made known when someone from Auradon is going to be arriving on the island, and that announcement is made to everyone in Auradon as well as the Isle of the Lost.” Queen Belle replied with an apologetic smile. “Please inform Fairy Godmother know when you are ready to go, and she’ll let us know.” She added before she and her husband actually walked away.

“Are we actually going to come back if we go there?” Jay asked sullenly.

“We have to come back.” Evie said as she looked over at Doug. “We are not going to leave Mal and Ben on the island, and we are not going to stay once we save them. Mal deserves to be happy, we all do. I mean Carlos, you want to ask Jane out, right? And Doug and I just became boyfriend and girlfriend today, I’m not going to leave that behind so soon after it’s begun. And Jay... I’m not sure if you’ve found someone that you want to be with or not yet, but you won’t know if there’s someone here that is willing to give you a chance if you were to stay on the island after we save Ben and Mal.” She said once she looked back at her friends. “We are going to go save our friends, and then we are all going to come back to Auradon and have our own chances to have a happily ever after.” She finished.

“I’m not letting you go without me Evie.” Doug said as he took both of Evie’s hands in his.

“It’s too dangerous for you to go Doug.” Evie replied.

“Do you remember what I told you this afternoon about what makes a guy a good boyfriend?” Doug asked.

“Of course I do.” Evie said slowly.

“There’s one part that I didn’t mention.” Doug continued. “When a guy’s girlfriend is about to do something that is potentially dangerous, he goes with her to make sure she stays safe... even if she’s with her two male best friends.” He finished.

“Doug, I’m not saying that it’s dangerous for me or the guys... it’s dangerous for you.” Evie replied.

“How would it be dangerous for me?” Doug inquired.

“We’ve never had the child of a hero come to the island before, there are a number of things that could go wrong if you come, and I don’t want something to happen to you.” Evie explained.

“And I don’t want something to happen to you. I would never forgive myself if I let you go back there without me. Besides, I will have to meet your mother eventually, right?” Doug asked.

“I was hoping that it would be through a computer screen.” Evie said softly.

“Why would you want it to be through a computer screen?” Doug asked.

“Carlos, Jay, can we have some privacy please?” Evie asked before turning back to Doug and waited for her friends to leave the room before continuing. “The island is not the best place to be, even for us. It’s one thing for you to meet my mother via video chat, and for me to tell you what life was like there, but it is an entirely different thing when you meet my mother in person and see what the island is like first hand. I don’t want to subject you to that.” She explained.

“Evie... when two people care enough about each other to agree to be in a relationship, their pasts come with them. If one or both of us tries to hide our past from the other, the relationship won’t work.” Doug said.

“I just don’t want to lose you Doug... I have no idea how the other villains and their kids might react to you being there.” Evie said sadly.

“Well, the list of villains that don’t like my family would only include your mom, so there shouldn’t be too many villains that we would need to worry about caring that I’m there.” Doug reasoned.

“It’s not just my mom though... while she doesn’t want to admit it, she has friends that would side with her over you and your family. I know that they are there, but I don’t know who they are. You never know who you can really trust between the generations.” Evie explained.

“There’s no way that we are going to compromise on this, is there?” Doug asked.

“I don’t think so. I appreciate your concern for me, and any other time, I would want you to be with me, but specifically going to the island is something that I don’t want you there for.” Evie said with a sigh.

“Okay... I won’t go. But know that I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back.” Doug said with a small kiss before he led Evie out into the hall and over to where Jay and Carlos stood waiting.

“Is everything okay?” Carlos asked looking back and forth between the couple.

“Yeah. We decided that I will not be going with you guys, so please keep Evie safe for me.” Doug said looking to both guys.   
“Of course. Evie is always safe with us.” Jay said with his arm folded across his chest. He saw Evie, Mal and Carlos as the younger siblings he didn’t have, and he was already upset about Mal being kidnapped by her own mother that we was not about to let something happen to his other sister.

“Let’s go let Fairy Godmother know that we are ready to go.” Evie commented as she turned towards her friends.

“I’ll see you soon Princess.” Doug with a quick kiss on the cheek and a hug.


	7. Chapter 7

Ben was confused. There was absolutely, 100%, no chance that him and Mal being kidnapped was Maleficent’s doing. The barrier around the Isle of the Lost prevented any villain who had magic from using it. So, unless something happened when Mal and her friends came to Auradon that messed with the barrier, there was no way that this was possible. Ben didn’t believe that Maleficent was behind thing... he didn’t _want_ to believe that she was behind this, because if she was, then that meant that the magical barrier that his father had Fairy Godmother put around the island was starting to weaken, but that couldn’t happen, right?

Mal wasn’t as concerned with the how it happened, but why her mother thought it was necessary to have her and Ben in shackles that were connected by a long chain so that if they tried to move towards each other, the other would be pulled back. It was like a twisted game of tug-of-war. After she had told Ben that her mother had kidnapped them, she had started to inspect the infrastructure of the dungeon. Specifically the spots where the chain was through rungs connected to the ceiling. Maybe if she and Ben worked together and pulled on their respective sides of the chain, they might be able to escape.

“How Mal? How could your mother have kidnapped us? Her magic doesn’t work on the island.” Ben questioned.

“I don’t know Ben. Maybe she did something to me before I left for Auradon that was activated when I told you the truth? My mom might not have the magic that she once had, but she still has some over her own flesh and blood. I’m sure that by now you’ve heard the story many times over of what my mother did to Sleeping Beauty, putting her in a trance to get her to touch the spinning wheel. Well, she does the same thing to me when she wants to ensure that I’ll do what she wants me to do. Maybe all the times that she’s done that to me while I was growing up finally snapped by me not doing her will? I really have no idea how she was able to do this.” Mal said with a sigh.

“We have to figure a way out of this place.” Ben commented as he looked around.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do Ben.” Mal snapped. “The chain is connected both of our shackles. I think the only way that we will be able to get out is if we both pull on our respective sides of the chain.” She added in a slightly calmer voice.

“Okay, Mal, you have noticed that the shackles we are in are behind our backs, right?” Ben bit out.

“I’m not an idiot Benjamin. I am well aware of that.” Mal retorted with a roll of her eyes.

“Okay then... how do you suggest we get a good grip on our own sides of the chain if it goes behind us?” Ben asked.

“You’ve never had your hands held behind your back before, have you?” Mal asked with a smirk.

“Not really. I’ve never been kidnapped before!” Ben exclaimed.

“Children, please, stop bickering!” Maleficent called out, silencing both Ben’s exclamation and whatever Mal’s response was about to be.

“Mother... why are you doing this?” Mal asked.

“Because pumpkin, you didn’t do what I told you to do. And this is the consequence of that inaction.” Maleficent replied. “Oh, and I have some good news... your little friends shall be joining you both soon enough. Along with any lovers that tag along.” She said as she turned to walk away.

“LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE! They weren’t the ones that failed you mother, I am. Let Ben go, and leave him and my friends alone.” Mal cried out.

“No can do pumpkin. Your friends are already on their way, in what I’m sure is an attempt to save the two of you, but you see, they won’t be able to save you. As soon as that barrier opens to let back onto the island, them, and anyone with them will end up right own here with you two.” Maleficent said as she lit the torches to show that there were 3 other sets of cells like the ones that Mal and Ben were in... All with the same kind of shackle-and-chain set up.

“Mother please!” Mal cried out again. “Don’t do this.” She pleaded.

“Too late.” Maleficent said as flashes of blue, red and maroon lit up the cells.

“Mal? Ben? Is that you?” Evie called out.

“Oh god! Evie! Jay! Carlos! Why are you all here?” Mal asked as tears started to fall from her cheeks.

“We came to save you and Ben.” Carlos replied.

“I guess kids of villains have some good in them after all.” Ben commented.

“Shut up Ben!” Mal snapped.

“The future King and Queen of Auradon everybody.” Jay joked.

“This is not the time for jokes Jay. Don’t you guys realize what just happened? You are all in cells! Shackled to keep you from getting to the ones that came with you.” Mal said.

“No one came with us Mal... we came on our own.” Evie replied.

“What? Why?” Mal asked.

“We knew that any heroes’ kids that we brought would be in danger, so Evie refused to let Doug come, Carlos and I don’t have anyone... yet. We weren’t going to risk the lives of anyone else.” Jay said with a shrug as he leaned against the front of the cell that was across from Ben’s.

“Now, how are we going to get out of here and get back to Auradon Prep?” Carlos asked as he gave Mal a smile from the cell right next to her.

“Hair pins!” Evie exclaimed.

“What are you talking about woman?” Ben asked.

“Mal, do you still have the pins in your hair from yours and Ben’s date?” Evie asked.

“You mean the date that we are still on? Yeah, I do.” Mal replied.

“Okay, move towards Carlos so that way he can get one out and then he can use it to unlock your shackles.” Evie explained.

As Mal quickly moved back so that Carlos could reach her, Ben was pulled forward, causing him to glare a little at her, but whether it was a playful glare or not, Mal couldn’t make out, but she smirked regardless. However, as Carlos pulled the pin out of Mal’s hair, another set of blue, red and maroon flashes filled the dungeon.

“NO!” Evie yelled as the blue colored smoke dissolved and was replaced by Doug.

“What the hell is going on?” Audrey asked as she looked around before her eyes landed on Jay across from her.

“Jane, are you okay?” Carlos asked as he was pulled away from the bars that separated his cell from Mal’s.

“What just happened?” Ben asked eyeing Mal.

“My mother knows more than I thought she did about what’s been happening in Auradon. She’s gotten into not only my mind, but into the minds of my friends. She somehow managed to get to the ones that my friends like the most.” Mal said sadly as she looked around at each of her friends in turn.

“This is our punishment for not doing what she wanted us to do.” Jay said in realization.

“Doug I am so sorry.” Evie said as tears streamed down her face.

“Jane, are you okay?” Carlos asked again.

“I-I-I think so. But where are we?” Jane replied in a small voice.

“Some place that you should never have been brought to in the first place. This is my fault.” Carlos admitted.

“No Carlos, this isn’t your fault. My mother did this because I told Ben the truth. The whole truth.” Mal said receiving gasps and shocked exclamations from her friends.

“Why would you do that Mal?” Jay asked.

“The love spell washed off when he went swimming on our date last night. When I still wasn’t being very loving or whatever he was looking for, we started arguing, and he asked for the whole truth, so I told him.” Mal explained.

“I warned you Ben.” Audrey said with a sneer.

“Hey, Audrey, news flash, you aren’t here because of Ben... you’re here because I like you.” Jay said as he tugged a little on the chain that connected them.

“Never going to happen Thief.” Audrey said with a small smile.

“Doug...” Evie said in a small voice as the tears continued to flow.

“It’s okay Evie. I’m just glad you aren’t hurt.” Doug said and wished terribly that he could comfort his girlfriend.

“Does anyone have any ideas of how we can get out of here?” Audrey asked.

“Mal had an idea a little bit ago.” Ben commented.

“And what idea would that be?” Audrey asked.

“Each of us need get our hands in front of us first.” Mal said.

“How is that supposed to help?” Jane asked.

“Mal knows what she’s talking about, so you can trust her.” Carlos said soothingly before everyone started maneuvering themselves so that their shackled wrists were in front of them.

“Okay, now once you’ve got your hands in front, everyone needs to grab the chain in front of them, and then at the same time, you and your partner need to pull as hard as you can to dislodge the rungs from the ceiling.” Mal explained.

“Audrey, I’m going to need your help with this, or else you are going to get hurt.” Jay said with a frustrated sigh as the princess simply stood there.

“Then don’t yank on the chain.” Audrey snapped.

“I lightly pulled on it earlier to get your attention. But if you want to get out of here alive, and conscious, then you need to actually do some work. I know as a Princess you might not be used to having to do things yourself, but at this point in time, you will need to do something besides just standing there.” Jay snapped back.

“You two are really getting on my nerves so help him out some Audrey.” Ben said as he looked over at them.

“Fine. I’ll help him.” Audrey said with a huff.

“Okay everyone, on the count of three.” Mal said.

“One...” Carlos started the count off.

“Two...” Evie said.

“Three.” Jay ended and then the dungeon was filled with loud bangs and a lot of dust.

“Please tell me that it worked.” Doug said as the dust settled.

“Doug...” Evie said in a small voice.

“Evie!” Doug exclaimed as he stepped over some of the debris in his cell and to the bars that separated him and his girlfriend.

“Jane, Audrey, if you have hair pins, use them now.” Mal said. “We need to get out of here.” She added as she pulled a pin loose from her hair and started picking the lock on her shackles.

“How are we supposed to get out of the shackles with a hair pin?” Audrey asked.

“Jay, help her with that.” Mal said quickly as she felt the weight leave her wrists before hurrying over to the bars between her and Ben and unlocking his shackles as well.

Once Mal was done with Ben’s shackles, she moved on to the cell door. As she placed one hand on the bar to steady herself, the door swung open. Looking around, she saw that all of the doors were loose enough to open on their own. Glancing over her shoulder at Ben, she nodded towards the cell door before turning and hurrying over to her best friend.

“Oh Evie...” Mal said as she felt tears fill her eyes. Evie was laying under some of the rubble.

“Ben! Get Doug out of the shackles, then I need the two of you and Jay to help move this rubble off of Evie.” Mal said as she sat down on the ground and moved Evie’s head into her lap.

“Jay, get over here!” Ben called out.

“Hold on, Princess over here isn’t holding still for me to get her out of these shackles.” Jay replied.

“Our best friend is laying under a pile of rubble Jay Voleur. So get your ass over here and help us.” Mal seethed. “Carlos, go help Audrey.” She added.

Soon enough, Ben, Doug and Jay had Evie out from under the rubble, and Carlos had Audrey out of her shackles. It was then that they realized that none of them had any idea of how to get out of the dungeon without alerting Maleficent to their escape. And they did stand there for a little bit trying to come up with ideas, but they soon realized that all of their ideas were useless... mainly because most of them involved magic. Then Ben thought back to his thoughts from earlier... there had to be a weak spot in the barrier that was allowing Maleficent to use stronger magic.

“Wait, Maleficent has been magic to get us all here. I mean, Mal and I had been in my room at school when she took us, and Audrey, Doug and Jane were all at the school too. So, as much as I don’t want to think that it’s possible, there has to be a weak spot in the barrier. How else would she have been able to get most of us from Auradon if that weren’t the case?” Ben asked.

“I overheard my mom talking to the King and Queen.” Jane said softly.

“What did you overhear her telling them?” Carlos asked.

“She said that since she hasn’t used magic in 20 years that there’s a good chance that in all that time that the magic might have started to weaken, and that she would reinforce it after Ben’s coronation, just to make sure.” Jane said.

“So we just have to find the weak spot.” Audrey said with a shrug.

“You have no idea how big this island is, do you Princess?” Jay asked as he stood slightly behind Audrey with his arms folded across his chest.

“How big could it be?” She said with another shrug.

“This island holds not only the villains from your little fairy tale stories, but their children as well. So it’s a pretty big island. There is no way that six of us could cover every part of it without being seen.” Jay said with a roll of his eyes.

“Learn to count Thief, there’s eight of us.” Audrey replied with a scoff.

“Maybe you should be the one that learns how to count. Evie is unconscious, and there is no way that I would allow Doug to leave her alone to help us look, so there’s six.” Jay retorted.

“Enough!” Mal exclaimed. “Doug, can you hand me Evie’s mirror please?” She asked as she turned to Doug who was sitting on the ground and holding Evie’s body close.

“Here.” Doug said as he handed it off.

“Thank you.” Mal said looking between Jay and Carlos. She saw the same thing in their eyes that she was sure they saw in hers... hesitation and uncertainty that the mirror would work for her. “Magic Mirror in my hand, show me where to get off this chunk of land.” She spoke clearly and let out a relieved sigh when the mirror worked.

“Come on guys, let’s get out of here.” Ben said.

“What are we going to do once we get there?” Audrey asked.

“Then we use magic get ourselves home.” Jane said confidently.

“None of us have magic Jane.” Audrey replied.

“Mal has Magic, and so does Jane.” Carlos said.

“No I don’t.” Jane replied quickly.

“I believe in you Jane. You’re Fairy Godmother’s daughter, you have to have some magic in you; you just haven’t been able to use it.” Carlos said with a reassuring smile.

“Okay then...” Jane said.

“Carlos, take the mirror. You, Jane, Jay and Audrey go on ahead. Ben and I are going to help Doug with Evie.” Mal instructed.

“Are you sure?” Carlos asked.

“100% positive. Now go.” Mal replied urgently.

“See you back at school.” Carlos said before Jay led them out of the dungeon, making sure to have a firm grasp on Audrey’s hand.

“Come on Doug, we’re going home and we are going to get Fairy Godmother to help Evie.” Ben said as he crouched down to his friend’s level.

“I won’t be able to carry her.” Doug replied as he looked up at Ben.

“I’ll carry her.” Ben said as he lifted Evie into his arms.

“Come on Doug.” Mal said softly as she helped Doug stand up.

After Ben was safely out of the dungeon with Evie, Doug and Mal followed closely behind before Mal took the lead. She knew exactly where the weak spot was, and she needed to be in the front of her group. They were almost there, and could see Jay and Audrey still standing there when there was a crackle of laughter behind them, causing Mal to freeze.

“Ben, get Evie and Doug and the others out of here. I’ll meet up with you at school.” Mal said as Ben and Doug took off running.

“Mal Bertha Mauvais.” Maleficent said slowly and Mal turned to face her mother.

“I’m not going to let you hurt my friends again. We are getting off this island for good. And then the barrier is going to be reinforced so you will never be able to reach us ever again.” Mal said.

“It’s cute that you think so.” Maleficent sneered.

“I know so Mother.” Mal said as she stood her ground and glared at her mother.

“EQ, what did you tell me yesterday? That love will be the end of your daughter?” Maleficent asked as the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella all stepped out from the shadows.

“No... That’s what _you_ told _me_ about _your_ daughter.” Evil Queen replied.

“Do you know how close we are to getting what we want?” Maleficent asked turning away from Mal, giving her daughter enough time to turn and run towards her friends.

As Mal neared them, Fairy Godmother appeared just above the water, and ushered Mal and her friends through an invisible portal. Once they were safely back at the school, Mal looked around for Evie. She needed to know that her best friend was okay.

“Ben and Doug took Evie to the infirmary.” Carlos commented as he squeezed Mal’s hand and then turned to walk away with Jane.


	8. Chapter 8

Doug had no idea what time it was. He knew that it had to have pretty late when they had broken out of the dungeon on the island, but he hadn’t seen a clock of any sort since getting back to the school. He knew that once Ben had set Evie down on the bed in the infirmary that he had left, probably in search of Mal, but Doug had been by Evie’s side all night, simply holding her hand. He knew that people had come and gone, but his eyes never left Evie’s face, and his hand never left hers.

“Son?”

The voice made Doug jump and come out of his daze and turned around to look at his father. Doug knew that his father was a man of very few words, and he could usually figure out what his father was trying to say by the looks that he was given, but Doug couldn’t read the older man this time. Maybe it was the fact that he had been up all night, staring at his girlfriend, who lay unconscious in the school’s infirmary, just willing her to wake up, so he wasn’t thinking as clearly as he usually did, but he wasn’t sure.

“Dad.” Doug replied simply before turning back to Evie.

“You need to eat Son. You need to do something. It will you do you no good to sit here the entire time and become weak. You want to be strong for when she wakes up.” Dopey said.

“I’ll eat when Evie wakes up.” Doug said defiantly.

“Doug, I commend you for waiting by her side so that you will be the first person that she sees when she wakes up, but I will not stand by and let you not think about what you need as well. If you don’t want to leave her side, fine, but then ask one of your friends or cousins to bring you something to eat.” Dopey said.

“Dad... do you mind?” Doug asked in a small voice as he continued to stare at Evie, gently rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

“That you’re falling in love with Grimhilde’s daughter? No, I don’t mind. You are your own person Son; you are free to love whomever you want to love.” Dopey replied.

“Once Evie wakes up, can I bring her to the next family dinner with our family and Snow and Ferdinand’s family?” Doug asked.

“Of course you can Son. We are all looking forward to meeting her.” Dopey said before he turned and walked out.

“Please wake up Evie.” Doug whispered as he folded his arms on the edge of the bed and laid his head against them, making sure to continue holding her hand and face her.

“Doug?”

The voice was low, but Doug recognized it instantly. Evie was awake. However her eyes weren’t open, and she made no acknowledgement of the fact that he was holding her hand. Could he have just imagined her saying his name due to being sleep deprived? He had spent the day with Evie yesterday, making the long journey from Auradon Prep to her castle, had walked around the castle for a few hours with her, and then made the journey back to the school only to find out that Ben and Mal were missing. Then he had watched Evie walk away with Jay and Carlos so that they could go get Ben and Mal, only for shortly after they left for him, Audrey and Jane to all be engulfed in colored smoke. Then everything in the dungeon went on, and Doug was stuck thinking that his promise to Evie would never be one that he could keep, because he thought that he would lose her.

“Doug?” Mal asked softly as she walked into the infirmary, followed by Ben, Jay, Carlos and Jane.

“Hey guys.” Doug said as he briefly turned around, before turning back to Evie.

“Has she woken up at all?” Jay asked.

“I thought she might have said my name a couple minutes ago, but when I looked up at her, her eyes were still closed, and she hadn’t acknowledged that I’m holding her hand, so I think I might have just imagined it since I want her to wake up so badly.” Doug replied.

“Have you tried kissing her?” Jane asked as she walked over and pulled a chair next to Doug’s.

“No. But she wasn’t put under a sleeping spell, she was knocked unconscious when we pulled on the chain and her cell filled with debris. So I didn’t think about it.” Doug said sadly. If only she had been placed under a sleeping spell, then maybe he could have woken her up by now.

“Have you eaten anything since we’ve been back?” Ben asked.

“I don’t want to leave her alone.” Doug replied.

“Do you want us to go get you something to eat?” Carlos offered.

“That would be great. My dad would not like if I actually didn’t eat.” Doug said with a halfhearted appreciative smile.

“We’ll be back in a little bit.” Mal said as she gave Doug a hug.

“Okay. I’ll be here... waiting for my Princess to wake up.” Doug said as he returned Mal’s hug.

After Mal walked out with Ben and Jay, it didn’t take Doug to realize that Jane was still sitting next to him and that Carlos was leaning against the wall on the other side of Evie’s bed.

“Can you guys give me minute alone with her?” Doug asked as he looked between his two friends.

“Of course. We’ll be right outside if you need us.” Carlos said as he walked around the bed and offered a hand to Jane who took it after a moment or two’s hesitation.

Once Doug heard the infirmary door click shut behind them, he got out of his chair, stretched a little to get the kinks out of his bones and muscles from sitting in the same position for so long, and then sat down on the edge of Evie’s bed. Glancing around to make sure he was truly alone with Evie, Doug placed on hand on the far side of the bed to steady himself before leaning down and pressing a kiss to Evie’s lips. When he pulled away, Doug closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see his kiss not wake her up. But when he felt pressure in his hand, he looked over at her and he left out a cry of relief when he saw her looking back him.

“Villains don’t die easily.” Evie commented in a scratchy voice.

“You have never been a villain in my eyes Evie Royall. And you never will be.” Doug said with a smile. “I’ll be right back, okay? There are some people that will be happy to know that you’re awake.” He added as he went to stand up.

“Don’t leave me just yet.” Evie said.

“I was just going to get Carlos and Jane from the hallway. I promise to be right back Princess.” Doug said in a soft voice while placing a kiss on her forehead before walking over to the door and opening it.

“Okay.” Evie said with a small smile.

“Hey, guys, Evie’s awake.” Doug commented.

“Oh thank goodness.” Evie heard Jane say before the younger girl hurried into the infirmary. “I’m so happy that you’re okay.” She continued when she reached Evie.

“Thank you.” Evie said as she saw Carlos and Doug come back in. “What happened? The last thing I remember is trying to escape the dungeon, and specifically, I kind of remember Mal having us yank on the chain as we could, but I don’t remember anything after that.” Evie questioned once Doug and Carlos had reached her bed.

“When we pulled on our chain, it dislodged more than just the rungs in the ceiling above you, so when we both pulled, some of the rubble landed on you and you hit your head, knocking you unconscious. There were also a couple pieces of heavy rubble that had landed on your abdomen.” Doug explained as he sat on the edge of her bed again, but gently pulled her towards him.

“How did we all escape?” Evie asked.

“Mal used your mirror to find the weakest part of the barrier, and then we all pretty much ran towards it as fast as we could.” Carlos said.

“What about Mal? And Ben? And Jay?” Evie asked when she fully realized that her other friends weren’t present.

“They went to get Doug some food. He hasn’t eaten anything since we got back.” Jane explained.

“How long ago was that?” Evie asked.

“We got back here just around midnight, and it’s now 1 in the afternoon, so 13 hours ago.” Jane replied.

“Oh.” Was all Evie could think to say as she glanced up at Doug.

“Carlos, why don’t we give them some time alone?” Jane suggested when she noticed Doug and Evie staring at each other.

“Sure thing. We should probably inform your mom that she’s awake anyway. We’ll have the others leave your food outside.” Carlos said with a nod.

“You could have died because of me.” Evie said once Carlos and Jane were out of the room.

“Evie...” Doug said slowly.

“No Doug... you never should have been pulled there. You only ended up in that cell because of my feelings for you. I don’t want you to be constantly looking over your shoulder for something bad to happen because you’re dating a villain’s daughter.” Evie argued.

“My dad stopped by a little bit ago.” Doug said, not wanting to argue quite yet.

“He did?” Evie’s eyes went wide and her already pale face went a little bit paler.

“Yeah. I thought he was going to reprimand me for being with you, but he doesn’t mind us being together. He wants me to be happy, and you make me happy. He even said that you can come to our next family dinner.” Doug said.

“Doug I don’t think...” Evie started to say, but stopped. “Do you have family dinners with Snow White’s family as well?” She asked in a small voice.

“Yes...” Doug said slowly.

“I think I heard your conversation with your father.” Evie said.

“If that’s true, then you know that I’m not going anywhere Evie. I really like you, and I hate that you got hurt, because I thought that I was going to lose you forever. So please, don’t push me away.” Doug pleaded.

“I don’t think I could live with myself if I ever managed to push you away.” Evie admitted.

“Good. Because I made a promise to you yesterday that I intend on keeping.” Doug commented as he leaned down and placed a lingering kiss on Evie’s lips.

“Doug. Evie.” Fairy Godmother said, breaking the bubble that the couple had retreated into.

“Sorry Fairy Godmother.” Doug said as his cheeks heated up.

“Doug, I must ask you to leave the infirmary while I examine Evie. Besides, your father and uncles would like to talk to you in the courtyard.” Fairy Godmother commented.

“How long will it be until Evie can leave the infirmary?” Doug asked.

“It depends on the severity of her injuries Doug. But hopefully in a day or two.” Fairy Godmother replied.

“Okay, thank you Fairy Godmother.” Doug said before turning back to Evie. “I’ll be back later on, okay?” He asked.

“Yeah. We have a promise to talk about.” Evie said with a small smile.

“That we do. Get some rest Princess.” Doug said before he walked out into the hall, and ran into Chad. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

“I heard what happened to Evie. I wanted to see if she was okay.” Chad said.

“She’s going to be fine. But Fairy Godmother is with her right now, so you can’t see her.” Doug said as he stood in front of the door, blocking Chad from entering.

“Come on Doug, I just want to let her know that I’m glad she’s okay.” Chad said with a smile.

“I’m not saying that you can’t go in because I don’t want you to, which I don’t, but because Fairy Godmother really is in there with her checking her out.” Doug said, not moving from his spot.

“I’ll be quick.” Chad said with a shrug.

“You aren’t getting it Chad, you really can’t go in.” Doug said impatiently. “Besides, what makes you think that Evie wants to you to make sure she’s okay?” He added.

“You don’t know what Evie wants and doesn’t want.” Chad commented.

“I never said that I did. But you don’t know her wants either.” Doug retorted.

Before either of the boys could say anything else, Fairy Godmother came out and closed the door behind her.

“Chad, please come with me; Doug, please go see what your family would like to talk to you about.” Fairy Godmother said when she turned to face them.

“Can I go in and see Evie?” Chad asked.

“No, you may not. She’s sleeping right now, and when she wakes up she will need to talk to her friends before she has any other visitors.” Fairy Godmother replied.

“I am a friend.” Chad said.

“She meant Mal, Carlos and Jay.” Doug muttered.

“Doug, courtyard, now.” Fairy Godmother commanded.

“Yes Fairy Godmother.” Doug said as he walked away.

“What’s up Headmistress?” Chad asked.

“I wanted to thank you for informing me that Jane, Doug and Audrey had all disappeared after Carlos, Evie and Jay had left to go save Ben and Mal, however, that does not excuse your behavior in trying to get Evie expelled from school.” Fairy Godmother commented.

“You know about that?” Chad asked.

“I know about everything that goes on in this school. Once Evie has recovered, I will be talking to her on the issue as well. But in the meantime, you are benched from tourney games until you bring your grade up in Chemistry.” Fairy Godmother said. “Now, go back to your dorm and study.” She said before walking away.

“Yes ma’am...” Chad muttered to himself before slipping quickly into the infirmary.


	9. Chapter 9

Nothing was making sense. Mal was trying to figure things out, but everything was a jumbled mess. Why had her mother really kidnapped her and her friends? What did Ben, Jane, Doug and Audrey really have to do with her mother’s plot for revenge? Why had her mother not tried harder to keep them all on the island? Why had her mother allowed them to escape instead of having one her goons standing watch? Almost any question about hers and hers friends’ short time back on the island with the words ‘who, what, where, when, why and how’ were floating across Mal’s mind, completely confusing her, and causing her not to be able to focus on much of anything. And when her thoughts weren’t on the escape, they were on Evie, lying unconscious in the school’s infirmary. Doug hadn’t left her side since they had returned, but Mal hadn’t gotten to see her. Just as she had gotten to the doors to the infirmary, Fairy Godmother and Ben walked out, and the former had told her that Evie wasn’t able to have too many visitors right away. Mal had tried to argue that she was Evie’s best friend, and that she should be allowed in, but then she had been told that Doug was with her, and her argument died on her lips. So she had left with Ben.

Since Mal hadn’t slept since the night before her date with Ben- ‘ _had it really just been two nights previous’_ – she had started to head towards hers and Evie’s room, but Ben had gently steered her towards his room instead. When Mal had given him a look as to say _‘what are you doing?’_ Ben had simply given a look back saying _‘you will do better in my room’_ , so Mal hadn’t argued with him on the subject. And as soon as they had reached his room, they had both collapsed onto his bed and fallen asleep with their backs facing each other. Neither of them had realized just how tired they had been until their heads had hit the pillows, but at some point, they had both turned over so that they were facing each other, because when Mal opened her eyes as the rays from the sun started to light the room, she found herself staring into Ben’s eyes.

“Were you watching me sleep?” Mal asked.

“Maybe.” Ben replied as he reached over and lightly brushed a strand of hair behind Mal’s ear.

“Are you going to try and kiss me again?” Mal asked softly.

“I’m thinking about it.” Ben said with a small smile.

“You know, our plan of trying to preserve the rose petal so that I could wear it as a pendant hasn’t happened.” Mal commented.

“I know.” Ben agreed.

“Are you going to tell me about your dad at some point? You told me about your mom, but you haven’t mentioned your dad much.” Mal said.

“I’m surprised that you haven’t figure out what I inherited from my dad by now. I wasn’t the friendliest person down in that dungeon.” Ben said with a slight frown.

“You were chained to someone who had spelled you into thinking that you loved them. I chalked it up to you finally realizing what I had done and you were finally showing how furious you were with me.” Mal said with a shrug.

“I’m not furious with you Mal. Sure, I was a little irritated that you weren’t opening up to me and that you kept keeping me at arm’s length when I had given you no reason to do that, but I’m not furious.” Ben said. “But seriously, I inherited my father’s temper. He was arrogant and had a short fuse leading up to being cursed, and all throughout his curse up to falling in love with my mother, and earning her love in return.” He explained as he sat up in bed and looked away from her.

“What’s wrong?” Mal asked as she sat up as well and moved towards him.

“Everyone judges you and your friends for your parents’ mistakes and assume that all of you are just mini versions of them, but the conveniently ignore the kind of person my father was, and how I can be at times, just because he found love. I don’t think that it’s fair that if people are going to judge others, that they pick and choose who they are going to judge. There are times that I feel like people overlook the anger issues I inherited from my father just because I’m about to be crowned King. And they gloss over my father’s anger issues from when he was my age, and the ones that he still has at times because he’s the current King.” Ben explained as he punched his mattress before standing up and starting to pace.

“People probably gloss over your father’s past because he changed. He was heartless when he was your age, and he was cursed for it; but then he met your mother, and he changed. He fell in love, and everyone knows that love is truly powerful, so they are looking at who he is now instead of who he used to be.” Mal tried to reason.

“But that’s exactly my point Mal. They are conveniently forgetting that my father used to be heartless and cruel, yet they judge you and your friends based on your _parents_ ’ past actions, instead of your own actions. How can I rule fairly, if the people that I will be ruling don’t know how to be fair themselves?” Ben asked.

“It’s not the people that you are ruling that need to be fair Ben. It’s you who needs to be fair. Sure, there are people here who can only see the horrors that mine and my friends’ parents committed, and at the same time, ignore the horrors that your father committed, but if you are fair in the way that you treat everyone, or at least as fair as you can be, then people will either try and be like you, and see everyone for who they are as individuals, or they will continue to have blinders on and not see reason. You can’t tell people how to treat others and expect them to do it. They need to make the decision to treat others better on their own.” Mal said.

“So you’re saying that if I own up to my actions, and bring to light my own fathers actions and show that even heroes have flaws, that there’s a chance that the people of Auradon will start to do the same?” Ben asked.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. No one is perfect Ben. Not even Royalty. And you can’t expect people to be perfect either.” Mal said.

“You could be a very wise Queen someday.” Ben commented.

“Is that an indirect proposal of marriage Prince Benjamin?” Mal asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not at all. Just an observation if we were lucky enough to get that far in our relationship.” Ben replied with a smile.

“I’ve never really been on good terms with positive luck in the past.” Mal said with a frown.

“All of the bad luck that you have encountered in your life was associated with your life on the island, maybe now that you’re here in Auradon things could start to change for the better.” Ben said with a shrug as he walked back to his bed and took Mal’s hands in his. “I’m sorry our date didn’t go as well as planned.” He said.

“It’s not your fault. Starting a date with you being under a love spell wasn’t exactly the best idea to begin with, so there was always the potential that it could have gone worse.” Mal said as she looked down at their joined hands.

“Once everything settles, would you like to try again? With both of us 100% in it?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know where I’ll be once everything settles.” Mal admitted.

“You’ll be here in Auradon with me and your friends, both your new friends and the ones that you’ve had your entire life.” Ben said.

“How do you know that?” Mal asked skeptically.

“I’m listening to my heart. And it’s saying that everything will work out in our favor.” Ben said before slowly leaning in and pressing his lips to hers in a light kiss.

As the kiss went on, Mal wrapped her arms around Ben’s neck and pulled him closer. After everything that they had been through on the disaster that was their first date, Mal knew that they both deserved some time to just feel. To just let their actions be led by what they were feeling, not by what they were thinking. After they pulled away when the need for air was apparent, they chose to just lay in each other’s arms and stared into each other’s eyes. Then a couple hours or so later, there was a loud knock on the door, accompanied by Jay’s voice saying that they were going to go see how Evie was doing, and Mal hurried to go with them.

When Mal, Ben, Jay, Carlos and Jane reached the infirmary, they found Doug, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, next to Evie’s bedside, simply staring at her. Mal’s heart broke when she saw her best friend lying so still. It was almost too much for her, but with Ben and Jay by her sides, both holding her lightly, Mal made her way over to the bed.

“Doug?” Mal asked softly as she stepped forward with her friends close behind.

“Hey guys.” Doug said as he briefly turned around, before turning back to Evie.

“Has she woken up at all?” Jay asked, the pain in his eyes at one of his best friends lying unconscious evident.

“I thought she might have said my name a couple minutes ago, but when I looked up at her, her eyes were still closed, and she hadn’t acknowledged that I’m holding her hand, so I think I might have just imagined it since I want her to wake up so badly.” Doug replied.

“Have you tried kissing her?” Jane asked as she walked over and pulled a chair next to Doug’s.

“No. But she wasn’t put under a sleeping spell, she was knocked unconscious when we pulled on the chain and her cell filled with debris. So I didn’t think about it.” Doug said sadly. If only she had been placed under a sleeping spell, then maybe he could have woken her up by now.

“Have you eaten anything since we’ve been back?” Ben asked.

“I don’t want to leave her alone.” Doug replied.

“Do you want us to go get you something to eat?” Carlos offered.

“That would be great. My dad would not like if I actually didn’t eat.” Doug said with a halfhearted appreciative smile.

“We’ll be back in a little bit.” Mal said as she gave Doug a hug.

“Okay. I’ll be here... waiting for my Princess to wake up.” Doug said as he returned Mal’s hug.

Once she had pulled away, Mal looked at the others. She was not going to leave Doug alone with Evie anymore, she could see how much of a toll this was taking on the guy. She wanted at least one of Evie’s best friends to stay, but before she could even say anything, Carlos mouthed that he and Jane would stay with Doug and Evie. With a nod, Mal walked away with Ben and Jay following. Once they reached the hallway, she finally broke down. As Mal fell to her knees, with tears falling from her eyes, Ben gave Jay a confused look, which Jay just shrugged off before kneeling next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders before Ben followed suit and took her hand in his.

“Why? Why did this have to happen to Evie? Why couldn’t it have happened to me?” Mal asked through her tears.

“If it had happened to you, Ben would have been where Doug is, and Evie would have been asking the same thing. This isn’t your fault Mal.” Jay said as he gently rubbed her back. He had seen his two female best friends break down enough times in their 16 years to know how to comfort them, despite who his father is.

“None of you should have even been there. When _she_ engulfed me in smoke, I thought she was just taking me away from Ben. But then he was engulfed in smoke too... I never thought that she would have taken everyone who I care about as well.” Mal cried as she put her head into her hands.

“Look at me Mal.” Ben said and tried not to laugh when she peeked at him through her fingers. “My horrible behavior down in the dungeon aside, I guarantee you that if it happened again, none of us would have wanted to be anywhere else. Friends will always have your back, no matter what.” He finished as he gently pulled Mal’s hand from her face and kissed the back of it.

“Plus, Evie’s will to be there for her friends is stronger than anyone might think. She’ll pull through because wherever her mind is right now, it wants to get back here and be with the people that she loves and cares about.” Jay added.

“How can you guys be so sure?” Mal asked in a small voice.

“Because... because we have to believe that something good will come out of this whole ordeal.” Jay replied, making Mal’s eyes go wide as she turned to look at him.

“Let’s go get some food for us and Doug.” Ben said after a couple minutes of silence.

“I’ve already eaten something.” Jay commented.

“Not you, me and Mal ‘us’, just me and Mal ‘us’.” Ben replied.

“Oh, right.” Jay said with a small nod.

As the three of them walked towards the cafeteria, Mal felt like something was off. Everyone that they passed looked right through them as if she, nor Ben, nor Jay were actually there. Since hers and her friends’ arrival at Auradon Prep, Mal had never seen anyone look through Ben being there... it was almost as if they weren’t really there. Glancing around, Mal noticed Audrey sitting alone.

“Hey guys, do either of you find it weird that Audrey is sitting by herself? She’s the most popular girl at school.” Mal commented, drawing Ben and Jay’s attention to the Princess.

“Maybe people have finally started to see her as the self-absorbed Princess that she is.” Jay replied with a shrug.

“That’s one heck of a way to talk about the girl you like.” Mal reprimanded.

“Mal’s right Jay... that was kind of rude.” Ben added. “But yeah, Audrey never sits by herself at lunch... and honestly, no one has acknowledged us since we left the infirmary.” He added.

“You noticed that too?” Mal asked.

“Yeah, it’s weird for people to walk right past me and not get some sort of greeting.” Ben said with his face scrunched up in confusion.

“Maybe it was because we didn’t acknowledge anyone on our way over here.” Jay suggested.

“I don’t think that’s it. Let me try something real quick.” Mal said before she walked over to Audrey. “Hey Audrey.” She said once she sat down.

“What the hell has been going on since last night?” Audrey asked in a harsh whisper.

“What do you mean?” Mal asked.

“No one- and I really do mean no one- has said a single word to me since we got back from the island last night.” Audrey said. “It’s like they don’t see me. What the hell did that island do to me?” She asked.

“It’s not just you that people are seeing through. It’s Ben, and me, and Jay as well. I’m not sure about Jane, Carlos, Doug and Evie though.” Mal admitted.

“So, what? We’re all just invisible to our friends now?” Audrey asked as she glanced around.

“I really don’t know what’s happening Audrey. But we might need your help to figure that out.” Mal replied.

“And why would I do that?” Audrey spat out.

“Because... if my assumption is correct, then only the 8 of us that were in that dungeon can see each other.” Mal replied before she stood up and turned to head back to Ben and Jay. “Are you coming or not?” She asked.

“Yeah, I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?” Audrey said with a sigh. “You pulled me into this whole mess, and you better get me out of it.” She spat at Jay once she and Mal had gotten back to the guys.

“I will do my best Princess.” Jay retorted with a frown.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains rape/non-consensual sex.

Evie sighed a small sigh of relief once Fairy Godmother had stepped out of the infirmary. It gave her a few moments alone to get her thoughts in order before Doug came back in. She was supposed to be resting, although she wasn’t sure why; she had been unconscious for 13+ hours, if Fairy Godmother was to be believed on that subject. So instead of sleeping, Evie was content with sitting in bed, and trying to straighten out everything in her mind. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed the infirmary door open and then close quickly. It wasn’t until she heard the scuff of the chair legs against the floor that she realized her few moments of being alone were up.

“Chad? What are you doing here?” Evie asked as an out of place feeling of fear ran through her.

“I came to see how you were doing. I heard what happened last night.” Chad said as he reached for Evie’s hand, which she quickly pulled away.

“You need to leave Chad.” Evie said, hoping that her voice sounded firmer to him than it did to her.

“You can’t make me leave like the other night. Infirmary is common ground for guys and girls.” Chad said as he forcefully took Evie’s hand in both of his.

“I don’t want you here Chad.” Evie tried instead.

“That’s too bad, because I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out with me... once you a free to leave this bed.” Chad said with his signature Charming Family Smile.

“No thank you.” Evie replied simply.

“Come on E, isn’t this what you wanted? To find yourself a Prince with a big castle?” Chad asked.

“Don’t call me ‘E’... that’s something only my friends get to call me... and you are definitely not my friend.” Evie said as she tried to pull her hand away, but Chad’s hold on it was too tight.

“What about Evelyn? That’s what Evie is short for, right?” Chad asked with a smirk.

“No. My mother named me Evie. It isn’t short for anything.” Evie replied as she realized that she was essentially trapped in here with Chad.

“I looked you up Evie. I looked up everything that I could so that I would know what you liked...” Chad said as he leaned in and used Evie’s hand as leverage to pull her closer to him. “Just because you were born on the island, doesn’t mean that we don’t have access to those birth records here in Auradon. Your birth certificate clearly states that your name is Evelyn.” He said before forcefully pressing his lips to Evie’s and quickly climbing on top of her.

Evie tried to push him off of her, but she wasn’t strong enough. Even though Chad wasn’t overly muscular like Jay was, he definitely had Evie beat in who weighed more. Since pushing him off wasn’t working, Evie tried to turn her head away from the kiss, but that wasn’t working either... Chad had both of his hands on the sides of her head, holding it still, while he made sure that his body weight, while not directly on top of her, kept her from squirming. Evie was helpless against Chad’s advances. Even if she hadn’t just spent the last 13+ hours in a coma, she would have had no chance at defending herself.

Not getting enough of a response out of the scorned princess, Chad forced his tongue into her mouth, causing Evie to whimper. She was being sexually assaulted by Chad, and all she could think about, intermittently with her thoughts of fear for her own safety, was Doug. How was he going to react if he came back and saw Chad on top of her? Would he know that this wasn’t what she wanted? Would he try and pull Chad off of her and defend her like he had in Chemistry the other day?

With her body still weak from the coma, and her overwhelming thoughts of fear, Evie’s mind started to go dark. She didn’t have any fight left in her to try and get Chad off of her, and she didn’t know how much longer she could hold out in hopes that one of her friends would come by to see her and makes this whole ordeal stop. In her half-there/half-gone state of mind, Evie briefly realized that Chad was going farther with his assault. She had felt the draft as Chad ripped her clothes away from her body, and she felt the pressure of his bare member against her thighs, but she couldn’t do anything about it. Luckily, someone did show up just in time to save her: Doug.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing to my girlfriend!?” Doug yelled, causing Chad to pull away from his assault slightly.

“This doesn’t concern you Dworsky.” Chad responded.

“Like hell it doesn’t. Evie is **_my_** girlfriend, and **_my_** betrothed, so anything that involves her is my concern. Now get your hands... off of my girlfriend.” Doug said and Evie could vaguely make out the fact that he was seething.

“Betrothed, huh? Where’s the ring then?” Chad taunted.

“Now that, Charming, is none of **_your_** business. Now you have 10 seconds to step away from Evie of your own will before Fairy Godmother comes in here and has to break up a fight from me forcefully pulling you off of her.” Doug said.

“I’d like to see you try Dworsky. You’re a band geek, there’s no way that you’ll be able to pull me off. Now, if you don’t mind, I have something that I need to finish with your precious, Scorned Princess.” Chad said with a smirk as he forcefully took Evie’s innocence causing Evie to cry out in pain.

“Chad Bartholomew Charming, remove yourself from Evie this instance!” Fairy Godmother exclaimed as she came running in; Doug had just been about to pull Chad off of Evie himself when the headmistress had come in.

“Hold up Headmistress, I just gotta finish up here.” Chad said.

“Chad, I mean it!” Fairy Godmother bellowed.

“Fine.” Chad said with a frustrated huff as he pulled out of Evie and resituated his pants.

“My office, now!” Fairy Godmother demanded.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Chad said with a roll of his eyes.

Once Chad was off of her, Evie had curled into the fetal position, with her back facing Doug and Fairy Godmother. After she heard the infirmary door slam shut signaling Chad’s exit, Evie heard Fairy Godmother telling Doug something, but it sounded so far away that it wasn’t making any sense by the time it reached her head. It wasn’t long, however, before she felt a slight dip in the bed, and she knew that Doug was sitting with her and that the headmistress had left them alone.

“I am so sorry Evie.” Doug whispered.

“You weren’t the one who just did that to me.” Evie supplied weakly.

“I’m sorry for not fighting harder to stay with you while Fairy Godmother was checking on you. Then maybe Chad wouldn’t have tried anything.” Doug said, but Evie couldn’t tell if he actually believed that that wouldn’t have stopped Chad or not.

“You called me your betrothed.” Evie commented more to herself than to Doug.

“Yeah, I did.” Doug replied as her laid down on his side and lightly wrapped his arm around Evie’s waist.

“But we aren’t engaged.” Evie commented as she secretly reveled in the comfort that she felt at being in Doug’s arms compared to the terror she felt at being confined under Chad’s body.

“According to my father and my uncles, that promise that we made to each other yesterday on our date means that we are. At least unofficially we are.” Doug explained.

“How do they know about that?” Evie asked she finally turned over to face him.

“I told them. After Fairy Godmother had come out once she was done checking on you, she made me go talk to them since they were waiting to talk to me in the courtyard... that’s why I didn’t come back in right away earlier.” Doug said.

“Oh.” Evie said in a small voice as she looked away from the hurt that she was seeing in Doug’s eyes. “And they’re okay with that?” She asked.

“The way Happy put it was this: _‘she isn’t the one that is our enemy; our enemy is different than your enemy’_. Basically, my family is happy as long as I’m happy; and being with you makes me happy.” Doug said before going to lean in for a small kiss, which Evie involuntarily pulled away from.

“Oh, Doug, I’m so sorry.” Evie said as tears filled her eyes when she realized what she had just done.

“There’s no need to be sorry Evie. You didn’t ask for Chad to do what he did. You are still vulnerable from being in the coma, so it’ll take some time for everything to settle for you. I should have thought about that before I tried to kiss you.” Doug said as he pulled away from her.

“Don’t leave!” Evie said quickly.

“I’m never planning on leaving you again. I’m just sitting up.” Doug said as he situated the pillows behind his back before leaning back against them and beckoning for Evie to join him.

“Thank you for everything Doug.” Evie said as she leaned back against Doug’s chest and let out a contented sigh. “I don’t know how I would have truly survived here in Auradon if I didn’t have you by my side.” She added before she closed her eyes to try and get the sleep that she had been instructed to get.

“I have something for you.” Doug whispered into her ear.

“What is it?” Evie asked sleepily.

“A promise ring. If you’ll accept it that is... even though we’ve only been on one date.” Doug said as he pulled a small pouch out of his pants pocket and pulled the ring out of it.

“Where on earth did you get this?” Evie asked as she opened her eyes to see a beautiful heart shaped diamond on a simple band.

“My family.” Doug said as a blush rose on his cheeks. “Do you like it?” He asked hopefully.

“I love it.” Evie breathed out.

“Will you accept it as a promise that I will never let anything happen to you again?” Doug asked.

“Of course I will.” Evie said with a smile as she placed her left hand into Doug’s hand and watched with misty eyes as he slipped it onto her ring finger.

“You’re awake!” Mal exclaimed as she, Ben, Audrey and Jay came hurrying into the infirmary.

“Are we interrupting something here?” Jay asked as he eyed Evie and Doug.

“Now they show up.” Evie muttered under her breath.

“You only just interrupted a beautiful moment of Evie accepting a promise ring from me.” Doug replied.

“Have other people interacted with you two today?” Ben asked.

“Other than you guys, yeah, they have.” Evie replied bitterly.

“What happened?” Audrey asked.

“Chad’s a huge jerk, that’s what.” Evie replied as she shot a glare in Ben’s direction.

“Why are you glaring at me!?” Ben exclaimed.

“I see Chad as an extension of you right now... or at least you’re the Chad adjacent right now.” Evie said.

“Why did you want to know if others have interacted with us?” Doug asked before the topic of what exactly Chad did could be breached.

“Well, while Jay, Ben and I were heading to the cafeteria to get us and you some food, we realized that everyone we passed walked right by us without even acknowledging our existence, even Ben’s. Then we saw Audrey sitting by herself, and she said that she was being ignored in the same manner, so we thought that maybe all of us had some kind of invisible spell or something on us, but we couldn’t find Jane and Carlos, and you two weren’t affected by this, so now I’m not sure what’s happening.” Mal explained.

“Maybe only the four of you were affected because of where your cells were located in comparison to where mine, Doug’s, Jane’s and Carlos’ were located.” Evie suggested.

“But they were all in the dungeon on the island.” Ben pointed out.

“Yes, but the cells that the four of you were in were closer to the dungeon exit, so they were closer to the center of the island. The four of our cells were located on the far end of the dungeon, so we were closer to the edge of the barrier.” Doug explained.

“Hey guys, what did we miss?” Carlos asked as he and Jane walked in to the room.

“Have others interacted with you two since we’ve been back from that stupid island?” Audrey asked.

“No one but all of you and my mother.” Jane replied.

“What is so special about those two?” Audrey asked pointing at Doug and Evie.

“They’re betrothed... none of the rest of us are.” Ben replied as he looked at the couple.

“WHAT!?”


	11. Chapter 11

Mal was on a mission to figure out why people couldn’t see her and her friends, or Audrey for that matter. Honestly, Mal didn’t think that she would be able to consider Audrey a friend any time in the near future, but if things ended up working out between her and Jay, Mal could see that possibly changing, but in the meantime, Mal was just the villain’s kid that stole Audrey’s boyfriend away from her, so they weren’t friends. There were a couple times while Mal was on a rampage through the main building, and heading towards the dorms that Ben tried to get her to slow down and relax, and he would kiss her forehead or rub her shoulders, but it wasn’t working. And his displays of affection were only setting Audrey off, causing Jay to have to come up with ways to shut her up... one of which Mal was almost certain involved pinning the pink princess to the nearest wall and giving her a hickey.

“For Lucifer’s sake, where are Jane and Carlos?” Mal asked for about the fourth time since the four teens had left the cafeteria.

“We’ll find them Mal, but you need to calm down.” Ben said as he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

“I can’t calm down when I’m already too far into freaking out.” Mal said with a pout.

“There are other places that they could be other than their dorms.” Audrey offered, which was the first piece of helpfulness that the princess had given.

“Yeah, maybe they are in the kitchen giving Dude some treats, or in the library.” Jay suggested as he draped an arm over Audrey’s shoulders.

“Both viable options. Do we want to split up? Cover more ground and then meet at the infirmary to see how E’s doing?” Ben asked.

“No... No splitting up. The last time we split up from Jane and Carlos, the four of us realized that no one sees us. We are sticking together until we figure this whole thing out, and we find out friends.” Mal said firmly.

“Okay, where to first? Library or kitchen?” Audrey asked as she tried, with no avail, to shrug Jay’s arm off.

“Let’s try the kitchen first, and then the library.” Ben said and then looked at Mal. “What? The library is closer to the infirmary, so once we are done there, instead of us having to backtrack, we can just go straight to seeing if your best friend has woken up yet or not.” He said with a shrug.

“I’m really freaking out here Ben.” Mal said in a small voice.

“It’ll be okay Mal, I promise you.” Ben replied as he took both of Mal’s hands in his and laced their fingers together.

“Ugh, can you two just stop with the...” Audrey started to say, but was cut off by Jay kissing her.

“Listen Princess, you’re going to be stuck with me at least until we figure out what the hell is going on, so just stop focusing on your _ex-_ boyfriend and one of my best friends, and focus on either me, or really helping us locate Jane and Carlos. I know that I’m not what you wanted in a guy, but I’m what you got for right now, so you are going to have to live with it.” Jay said after he pulled back and looked into Audrey’s eyes while his hands were on either side of her face, his thumbs lightly caressing her cheeks.

“Okay.” Audrey breathed out. Ben had never kissed her the way that Jay just had and while she would never admit it to anyone, she didn’t even want to admit it to herself, she really liked the way that Jay had just kissed her.

“You two okay over there?” Mal asked with a smirk.

“Yeah, totally, let’s go find Jane and Carlos.” Audrey said quickly as she stepped back from Jay’s embrace.

After checking both the kitchen and the library, and not finding Carlos and Jane in either of those two places, the four teens made their way to the infirmary to see how Evie was doing. It didn’t take too long for Mal to realize that her best friend was sitting up in bed, talking to Doug, and without thinking, she burst into the infirmary, effectively breaking up any moment that Doug and Evie were currently having, or were about to have.

“You’re awake!” Mal exclaimed as she, Ben, Audrey and Jay came hurrying into the infirmary.

“Are we interrupting something here?” Jay asked as he eyed Evie and Doug.

“Now they show up.” Evie muttered under her breath.

“You only just interrupted a beautiful moment of Evie accepting a promise ring from me.” Doug replied.

“Have other people interacted with you two today?” Ben asked.

“Other than you guys, yeah, they have.” Evie replied bitterly.

“What happened?” Audrey asked.

“Chad’s a huge jerk, that’s what.” Evie replied as she shot a glare in Ben’s direction.

“Why are you glaring at me!?” Ben exclaimed.

“I see Chad as an extension of you right now... or at least you’re the Chad adjacent right now.” Evie said.

“Why did you want to know if others have interacted with us?” Doug asked before any of the four could ask more questions about Chad.

“Well, while Jay, Ben and I were heading to the cafeteria to get us and you some food, we realized that everyone we passed walked right by us without even acknowledging our existence, even Ben’s. Then we saw Audrey sitting by herself, and she said that she was being ignored in the same manner, so we thought that maybe all of us had some kind of invisible spell or something on us, but we couldn’t find Jane and Carlos, and you two weren’t affected by this, so now I’m not sure what’s happening.” Mal explained.

“Maybe only the four of you were affected because of where your cells were located in comparison to where mine, Doug’s, Jane’s and Carlos’ were located.” Evie suggested.

“But they were all in the dungeon on the island.” Ben pointed out.

“Yes, but the cells that the four of you were in were closer to the dungeon exit, so they were closer to the center of the island. The four of our cells were located on the far end of the dungeon, so we were closer to the edge of the barrier.” Doug explained.

“Hey guys, what did we miss?” Carlos asked as he and Jane walked in to the room.

“Have others interacted with you two since we’ve been back from that stupid island?” Audrey asked.

“No one but all of you and my mother.” Jane replied.

“What is so special about those two?” Audrey asked pointing at Doug and Evie.

“They’re betrothed... none of the rest of us are.” Ben replied as he looked at the couple.

“WHAT!?”

Mal wasn’t sure if she had made the exclamation, or if had been Audrey, or if it had been both, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Evie, her best friend, was betrothed to Doug, the sweetest guy ever (aside from Ben at times), and she hadn’t said anything. Mal was hurt that her friend had kept something this big from her, but she tried to push the feeling own and away so that she could be happy for Evie and Doug.

“When did all of this happen?” Mal asked as she moved to sit down at the end of the bed Evie was occupying.

“Well... on our date yesterday, Doug took me to my castle, and I asked him if he would live there with me, because I haven’t lived anywhere on my own before, and he agreed. We didn’t realize until Doug talked to his family a little bit ago that his promise to live in the castle with me meant that we were betrothed.” Evie replied after looking at Doug who smiled back at her lovingly. “And I was going to tell you when you got back from your date with Ben that Doug and I were dating, but then everything happened and this is the first time that I’ve been able to tell you about anything since we got out of the dungeon.” She finished.

“Well, I’m happy for you guys.” Mal commented.

Even though Evie was right, Mal still felt a small amount of betrayal. It didn’t take long for her to realize that her feelings of betrayal were being misplaced. It wasn’t Evie’s fault that she hadn’t gotten to Mal, it was Ben’s fault for blurting it out before Evie and Doug had a chance to wrap their heads around it. But as Mal turned to glare at Ben, she saw three distinct silhouettes moving across the walls behind Carlos and Jane. Mal was frozen with fear as her eyes locked onto the shadow like figure that could not be mistaken for anyone but her mother. She tried to pull her eyes away to look at Jay and Carlos, but she couldn’t.

There was movement around her, but Mal couldn’t understand what was happening. The silhouette of her mother that she was seeing was in the exact same seated position that Mal herself was in. Then she blinked and the silhouette was gone. Looking around her, Mal realized that her friends had been trying to get her attention.

“Jay, Carlos did you see them?” Mal asked, ignoring Ben’s questions of is she was alright or not and Evie’s concerned look.

“What are you talking about Mal?” Carlos asked.

“The silhouettes of our parents. Maleficent’s, Jafar’s and Cruella’s silhouettes were on the walls. My mom’s was sitting just like I am.” Mal explained as she looked between her two male best friends who shared a look between themselves before looking back at her.

“I think you’re imagining things Mal. Our parents’ silhouettes weren’t on the walls.” Jay said, but wasn’t sure if he actually believed the words that were coming out of his mouth.

“Besides, even if they had been there, why wouldn’t Grimhilde’s have been there as well?” Doug asked.

“Maybe it’s connected to why people can’t see the six of us, but they can see the two of you?” Mal said as more of a question than a statement.

“Mal, that’s crazy.” Audrey piped up.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion on the matter Audrey.” Mal snapped, but at seeing Jay tense up at her tone, let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.” She muttered.

“Okay, it’s been a long and stressful couple of days, so why don’t we all just try and get some sleep, yeah?” Ben asked as he placed a hand lightly on Mal’s shoulder as he looked around the room at everyone.

“Sounds good.” Jay said as he placed a hand on the small of Audrey’s back, despite her body tensing up at his touch.

“Oh, Jane, Carlos, where have you two been all day?” Mal asked before the two younger teens could walk out.

“We’ve been around campus. Jane was showing me some places that aren’t frequented by many students. You know, places that only the Headmistress’ daughter could show someone.” Carlos said with a smile before he slipped out after Jane.

“They’re getting awfully chummy with each other.” Ben commented.

“And that’s a bad thing?” Evie asked.

“No... I just mean that Jane had never been this close with anyone before, and I’m concerned about Carlos’ intentions regarding her.” Ben replied.

“Carlos woke Doug and me up in the middle of the night to ask for my advice on asking her out. I think his intentions are pretty genuine.” Evie retorted.

“Wait... when were you and Doug sleeping in the same room?” Jay asked.

“Was it two nights ago?” Doug asked looking at Evie who nodded and then looked up at Jay. “Two nights ago. The night of Mal and Ben’s first date.” He said.

“Carlos never mentioned it to you yesterday morning, did he?” Evie asked.

“No... He’s a good friend that way.” Jay commented.

“Anyway, I don’t think you have to worry about Carlos’ intentions, he’s always been the nicest out of all of us, and he wouldn’t disrespect Jane in any way.” Mal said.

“Okay.” Ben said with a small nod. “I still trust you.” He added.

“I’m really tired. Walk me to my room?” Audrey asked looking at Jay.

“Sure thing. See you all tomorrow.” Jay said over his shoulder, his hand never moving from the small of Audrey’s back.

“Can I have a couple minutes alone with Evie?” Mal asked looking between Doug and Ben.

“Sure.” Doug said with a nod. “I will come back in as soon as you and Mal are done talking.” He added to Evie before kissing her cheek and standing up.

“I’ll be outside when you’re ready to head off to bed.” Ben said as he took Mal’s hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

As Evie and Mal watched the guys leave, Mal tried to get her thoughts in order. The past two days felt like an eternity had passed, and Mal found herself missing her best friend. Since the two girls had become friends on the island, they hadn’t spent a night away from each other, and the past two nights seemed off without having Evie to really have some “girl talk” with.

“What happened?” Mal asked once the door shut behind Ben and Doug, both of whom she could see guarding the doors.

“Which part?” Evie asked.

“All of it.” Mal said.

“After you and Ben left for your date, I sat down to start on my homework while I waited for Doug; Chad showed up and gave me a really pathetic apology; Doug and I fell asleep; we woke up in the middle of the night to Carlos knocking on the door to talk to me about what he should do about his feelings for Jane; we fell back asleep; went on a date yesterday; came back to find out that no one had seen you or Ben all day; and then everything on the island happened.” Evie explained.

“And what happened with Chad today?” Mal asked.

“He sexually assaulted me, and there was nothing that I could do about it.” Evie said as tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, E, I am so sorry.” Mal said as she gave her best friend a hug.

“It’s okay. Doug and Fairy Godmother showed up and prevented anything big from really happening.” Evie explained.

“And you mentioned something about your castle?” Mal asked.

“Yeah... the castle that my mother used to live in... the one that Snow White grew up in. When Snow got married, she moved to her husband’s castle, and then Mother was banished to the island, but since Snow doesn’t want the castle, and Mother was the last person to live there, it belongs to the next living heir, which is me. Doug said that he would talk to Ben about reinstating my status and title once Ben’s crowned king, and then Doug and I are going to move into the castle.” Evie explained.

“What about the rest of us?” Mal asked.

“You’re welcome to stay there with us, but if things go well between you and Ben, you would be living in his castle. If it doesn’t, then I’m sure Doug would be okay with you living there as well.” Evie said.

“But if it’s your castle, then shouldn’t the decision be yours to make?” Mal asked.

“Yes, but if Doug promising to move in with me means that we’re betrothed, then I’m not going to make a decision without at least talking to him about it first. But it’s a big castle, so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Evie said.

“It looks like you’re getting everything that you ever wanted.” Mal commented.

“Why are you upset?” Evie asked.

“Two days Evie. It took 2 days for things to change between us.” Mal replied.

“Nothing has changed Mal.” Evie replied.

“Everything has changed E. Ben knows everything, you’re betrothed and already have plans for the future, and I don’t know what to do anymore. Before the other day, I had a clear idea of what was going to happen. We were going to stay through Ben’s coronation, I gave him a love spell so that I would be up there with him and his parents and would be able to grab the wand, and then we were going to go back to the island. Now everything is all turned around. With Ben knowing what our plan was supposed to be, and now you, Jay and Carlos all having people who are tethering you to Auradon, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore.” Mal said as she let out a frustrated sigh.

“Get to know Ben. Maybe once you get to know him some more, you’ll have someone that tethers you to Auradon as well. You won’t have any reason to return to the island.” Evie said.

“And our parents? What are they going to do when we don’t return?” Mal shot back.

“Our parents can’t reach us here anymore.” Evie replied.

“How do you know that?” Mal asked.

“Fairy Godmother reinforced the barrier around the island. Anything that could get power to your mother was effectively shut down when we were saved. At least that’s what she told me.” Evie explained.

“And what about the six of us? No one can see us. If that was a spell put on us by my mother because we aren’t betrothed like you and Doug are, how are we supposed to break that?” Mal questioned.

“I don’t know. But talk to Fairy Godmother. Maybe she could help.” Evie said with a helpful smile.

“You’re right, as always.” Mal said before she looked towards the door. “I should probably let you get some rest.” She said before she gave her friend a hug and stood up. “I really am happy for you and Doug.” She finished before she walked out of the infirmary.

“So am I.” Evie muttered to herself.


	12. Chapter 12

The following afternoon, Evie was cleared to leave the infirmary. She was glad to be out of the bed, and able to move around, but she couldn’t stop thinking about what Mal had said about things having changed for everyone in just a couple of days. Evie wasn’t pining over getting a Prince, Jay _was_ pursuing a princess, and Carlos was smitten with the daughter of the very woman who’s wand the four of them were supposed to be in Auradon to get. However, when Fairy Godmother cleared Evie to leave, the blue haired princess couldn’t get the words to come out that she needed to talk to the older woman.

Evie knew that Mal had been right that things had changed for the four friends, she just hadn’t wanted to actually admit it, even to her best friend. And if that was the case, Evie couldn’t deny it any longer. Things had definitely changed. The dynamic was different, and none of the friends really knew what to do about it. It also didn’t help that even when all 8 of them were together (since Audrey’s friends couldn’t see her), the only two who were acknowledged were her and Doug.

Evie felt horrible every time someone would come over to where the group was sitting and give her their condolences on having been in a coma, even though it had been less than a day. She wasn’t blind, she could see the looks that her friends were trying so hard to hide, but she knew them all too well. They were happy for her and Doug, but at the same time, resentful that a mere promise of him moving into her castle with her once Ben was crowned king was what kept the couple from being ignored.

It was only when Evie was sitting at her sewing table, working on a coronation dress for herself that realization hit her. If everyone was ignoring Ben because it was like he was invisible, then how was there going to be a coronation? Surely his parents could see him... and Fairy Godmother definitely could. Evie quickly stood up and strode towards the door, getting confused looks from the others in hers and Mal’s room.

“Where are you going?” Mal asked.

“To talk to Fairy Godmother.” Evie replied.

“Why? What good will talking to her do?” Audrey asked.

“Did it occur to anyone, even King-to-be over here, that no one except for this group and Fairy Godmother can actually see Ben? If people can’t see him, how is he supposed to have a coronation next week?” Evie asked.

“Honestly, I haven’t been thinking about my coronation.” Ben admitted.

“What are you even going to say to my mother? It wasn’t her magic that caused this... it was the Dark Fairy’s magic.” Jane piped up, she refused to use Maleficent’s name.

“Yeah, I’m with Jane, I don’t think that there is much that Fairy Godmother can do.” Mal said.

“It’s worth a shot guys. Please, please don’t tell me that you are all not willing to try and solve this by asking Fairy Godmother for help just because there’s a chance that she won’t be able to.” Evie begged as she looked around at everyone.

“Evie’s right you guys. We should have gone to Fairy Godmother as soon as we realized what had happened.” Jay commented.

“Besides, there’s always a chance that someone won’t go the way that you hope when you have to ask someone else a question. But you’ll never know what will happen if you don’t try.” Doug added.

“I’m not surprised that Doug agrees with Evie, but Jay? You actually admitted that Evie has a point.” Carlos said with a smirk.

“We’ve all changed since Ben made the proclamation to have us come here. I now admit when someone is right.” Jay said with a shrug.

“Is anyone going to come with me?” Evie asked impatiently as she placed her hand on the doorknob.

“We might as well all go.” Mal said with a sigh.

“It would definitely make explaining things to Fairy Godmother easier.” Ben agreed.

“Let’s go then.” Evie said as she flung the door open and came face to face with Lonnie who looked like she was about to knock on the door.

“Oh, hey Evie, hey Doug, hey everyone.” Lonnie said as she lowered her hand.

“What do you want Lonnie? To insult Evie some more?” Doug asked as he came up next to Evie and took her hand.

“Actually, I came to apologize to both of you.” Lonnie said.

“We’re actually just about to head over to talk to Fairy Godmother, so can you make it quick?” Evie asked as irritation towards the other girl filled her voice.

“Look, I was out of line the other day. I never should have said the things that I did, because none of it was warranted, or even remotely true. I am so sorry, to both of you. I was frustrated about something else, and I wrongfully took those frustrations out on the two of you.” Lonnie said as she clasped her hands tightly in front of her.

Evie turned to look at Doug, and Doug turned to look right back. The right thing would be to accept Lonnie’s apologize and put the incident behind them, but the words that the other girl had said were still painful to think about. With a sigh, Evie turned back to Lonnie and gave her a small smile.

“Thank you for apologizing Lonnie. It means a lot, but before we can fully forgive you, we need some more time to let other things settle. We do accept your apology though.” Evie said.

“Oh, of course, that is totally okay. But hey, why have the 8 of you been keeping to yourselves for the last couple of days?” Lonnie asked.

“Wait, you can see us?” Mal asked as she raced forward.

“Of course I can see you. Why wouldn’t I be able to?” Lonnie asked looking around at everyone in the room confusedly.

“Everyone else has been acting like we’re invisible since we all got back from being kidnapped by my mother.” Mal said.

“Oh, everyone can see all of you, it’s just that when there’s a couple that gets betrothed, they become the school’s “it” couple. No matter who they are, and unfortunately, with that comes the being seemingly unseen by others if you are close friends with the couple that is betrothed. So since Evie and Doug are the “it” couple right now, you all kind of were forced to fall to the waist side.” Lonnie explained.

“Why didn’t any of you four know this?” Jay asked looking between Ben, Audrey, Jane and Doug.

“It hasn’t happened in years, so I honestly forgot about it.” Ben said with a shrug.

“No... You and Audrey don’t remember it happening because you two were the “it” couple last time.” Doug pointed out.

“Then you’ve experienced it before?” Mal asked.

“No... I wasn’t close with them last time, but I vaguely recall it seemingly like they were always alone, but that only last for a day or two.” Doug replied.

“Is there a way for Fairy Godmother to put a stop to it?” Audrey asked. She really missed being noticed around school.

“I don’t think so, but it’s always worth a shot.” Lonnie said with a shrug. “And congratulations you two, you’ll be amazing together as husband and wife.” She added to Evie and Doug before she turned to walk away.

“So, are we still heading over to talk to Fairy Godmother?” Carlos asked.

“Yes. Only now we know what to tell her is going on.” Ben commented.

As the 8 teens made their way towards Fairy Godmother’s office, more and more people started to acknowledge them. Evie heard sighs of relief coming from Ben and Audrey, neither of whom were used to being ignored after being in the public eye for so long. She also heard a gasp of shyness from Jane who wasn’t used to being in the public eye at all. Mal, Jay and Carlos remained silent the entire time. As they neared Fairy Godmother’s office, Chad crossed their path and Evie and Doug froze, causing the others to bump into them.

“Dworsky, Royall, others.” Chad bit out.

“Charming.” Doug retorted.

“Is everything okay Chad?” Ben asked as he went to step towards his friend.

“No Bête, it’s not. Because of these two, I’ve been benched from Tourney.” Chad said as he glared at Evie and Doug.

“Because of us? Are you really that much of an idiot? You were the one who sexually assaulted Evie! You were the one that didn’t give a damn about the consequences of what you did to her! You being benched is 100% on you.” Doug said.

“Whatever Dworsky. You can have the Scorned Princess all you want, she’s not worth my time anyway.” Chad said.

“I am **_not_** a Scorned Princess, you Class A douche. I wasn’t born prior to my mother being banished to that Godforsaken island, I was born after her banishment. My mother can be seen as scorned royalty as much as anyone wants, but call me a Scorned Princess one more time, and being benched from a stupid sporting game will be the least of your troubles.” Evie said, causing Chad to be taken aback at the words.

“Whatever.” Chad said before walking away.

“Well then... I think it’s safe to say that Evie the Fierce has returned?” Mal asked.

“You bet I have. I’m not going to let some good for nothing prince walk all over me. I’m better than that, and I have someone who will treat me better than _he_ would any day.” Evie said as she tried to calm down.

“Any day, and every day.” Doug added as he gave Evie a small kiss on the cheek.

“Shall we?” Evie asked, indicating Fairy Godmother’s office.

“I think it’s started to ware off.” Carlos commented.

“Yeah, Lonnie and Chad both saw us. And a lot more people noticed that we were here as well.” Audrey added.

“They make valid points; I don’t think there’s a need to talk to Fairy Godmother anymore.” Mal said.

“I guess we don’t. So what are we going to do now?” Evie asked.

“We should probably focus on Family Day this weekend.” Ben replied.

“But, none of our parents can be there.” Jay pointed out.

“Then you’ll meet ours.” Ben replied and Jay looked at Audrey who quickly looked away from him.

“Is that a good idea for all of us? I mean, I’m sure your mom and dad won’t be 100% thrilled to meet me.” Mal said.

“And what about the fact that Carlos has already met Jane’s mother?” Evie asked.

“We all knew that you four coming here wasn’t going to be smooth sailing. But I believe that some good can come out of this. And if the peoples of Auradon believe in me half as much as all of you do, then the four of you meeting our families on Sunday will be the best time to get that ball really rolling.” Ben said.

“Ben, um, my grandmother is going to be there, so uh, don’t you think it would be a good idea to keep her away from Mal?” Audrey asked.

“Nothing is going to be resolved if that happens Audrey. I’m sure your grandmother will have some things that she would like to say to Mal about Maleficent, if given the chance, but I’m going to actively try and keep the two of them apart. At least, unless Mal doesn’t want to talk to your grandmother, then I will try to keep them apart.” Ben said as he glanced over at Mal who looked panicked.

“What about the love birds?” Jay asked turning his gaze to Evie and Doug who had started to have their own whispered conversation about Sunday.

“Doug mentioned something to me about his family wanting to meet Evie, so he’ll probably take the opportunity to introduce them. I mean, Dopey did give Doug a promise ring to give to Evie. And Doug has a matching one on.” Ben said with a shrug.

“Why don’t we all just split up into couples for the rest of the day?” Carlos suggested. “You know, talk about what to expect and stuff like that.” He added.

“Sounds like a plan. Shall we all meet up tomorrow morning for breakfast?” Jay asked.

“Yeah, sounds good.” Mal replied as Ben took her hand and started to lead her towards his room.

As the others left- Ben and Mal to his room, Jay and Audrey the grounds, Carlos and Jane to the library- Evie and Doug just watched them leave. Evie was beyond nervous for Sunday, and she had already voiced her concern to Doug, but all that had transpired from that was Doug reassuring her that everything would be fine.

“Shall we head to mine and Mal’s room?” Evie asked.

“Sure.” Doug said with a smile and a small nod as he took Evie’s hand in his and laced their fingers together.

“So, who are all of your cousins that I would be meeting on Sunday?” Evie asked after they had been walking in silence for a couple minutes.

“Well, there’s David, Gracie, Hayden, Samantha, Sander and Brittany. I’m the youngest out of all of us, Gracie is the oldest. Sam and Britt are a year older than I am, with Hayden being a year older than them, Sander being 6 months older than Hayden and then Dave being in between Gracie and Sander.” Doug explained.

“So four boys, and three girls?” Evie asked.

“Yeah, four and three.” Doug replied with a nod.

“I really want them to like me Doug.” Evie said in a small voice.

“They’ll love you Princess.” Doug said as they reached Evie’s room.

“How can you be so sure?” Evie asked.

“They’ll love you because they will see how much you mean to me.” Doug said with a smile.


	13. Chapter 13

If Evie was nervous about meeting Doug’s family, Mal was probably just as nervous, if not more, about meeting Ben’s parents. Adam and Belle Bête were the current King and Queen of The United States of Auradon, and she was going to have to impress them. But her mother’s reputation, and the expectation of what Mal should be like, proceeded her. She knew that Ben’s parents were not as on board with her and her friends being there as Ben and the other students were, but Mal didn’t care about what the other students thought. She cared about what her maybe-boyfriend’s parents thought about her. She needed to show them that she wasn’t the same person as her mother, but how was she going to do that if she wasn’t even 100% sure if it was true?

Mal knew that her words to Evie a few days previous were true, things had changed. The dynamic between her and her friends was definitely different than what Mal was used to, but was that solely because Evie, Jay and Carlos had all made connections with someone that tethered them to Auradon and Mal felt like she hadn’t? Or was it because despite their rotten to the core upbringing, Mal and her friends were starting to change the way that they saw things. Could being in Auradon for the short amount of time that they had been really started to rub off on the former villainous teens? Mal wasn’t sure, but she was sure about the fact that Ben’s parents would not like the fact that their son was pursuing a girl from the island.

“Mal? Did you want to try and find a spell to encase the rose petal in something?” Ben asked from his desk, since Mal was lounging diagonally on his bed.

“My spell book is in mine and Evie’s room. We can always look for one later.” Mal said as she stared up at the ceiling.

“What are you thinking about Love?” Ben asked as he glanced over at her before turning back to his computer.

“Sunday. What happens if your parents don’t like me?” Mal asked.

“Being my parents, they might not be pleased, and my dad might be a little more beastly about it than I would like, but if we can find a spell to preserve the petal before Sunday, then I know that they will eventually start to accept you for who you are, and not judge you by who your mother is, and where you were forced to grow up because of my father.” Ben replied.

“Do your parents know that I don’t resent them in any way for what they did?” Mal asked as she rolled onto her side and locked eyes with Ben.

“I’m not sure, but you are welcome to let them know when you meet them; I’m sure it might speed up the process of them liking you, and accepting you as my girlfriend.” Ben replied with a smile.

“About that Ben...” Mal started, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Hold that thought Mal.” Ben said as he stood up and walked over to his bedroom door before swinging it open to reveal his parents. “Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?” Ben asked as he heard Mal quickly get off the bed and presumably straighten her clothes.

“Are you going to let us in Son?” Adam asked.

“Sorry, of course, come on in.” Ben said as he stood aside to let his parents into the room.

“You must be Mal. It is so nice to finally meet you.” Belle said when she noticed who else was in Ben’s room with him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well Your Majesties.” Mal replied as she quickly dipped into a curtsey.

“Please, call us Belle and Adam.” Belle said with a warm smile.

“No.” Adam said sternly.

“Dad, come on, can’t you at least give her a chance? It’s not like Mom said to call you both ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’, she said for Mal to call you by your first names.” Ben said as he quickly closed the door. He didn’t want his classmates to hear everything that might transpire.

“I won’t allow it.” Adam said firmly.

“Adam, you are being ridiculous right now.” Belle said and Ben and Mal both tried to hide the stupid grins on their faces.

“I will not allow a girl that we barely know, that Ben barely knows, to call us by our first names. Friends of Ben’s that have known us our entire lives don’t even do that. Why are you so open to allowing a girl that was raised on that island to do so?” Adam asked his wife.

“Because we are the reason that she was raised on that island Adam.” Belle replied.

“It’s really quite alright. His Majesty is absolutely correct in his opinion; if Ben’s friends from childhood aren’t allowed to call you by your first names, then it would not be fair for me to do so.” Mal said quickly, but didn’t look either of the older Royals in the eyes.

“Thank you.” Adam said with a simple, small nod.

“You’re welcome Your Majesty.” Mal said with another curtsey.

“Benjamin, what is that rose petal doing out?” Adam asked when he saw the box sitting on the table in the middle of Ben’s room.

“I was offering it to Mal before we were taken.” Ben said simply, looking not at his father, but at his mother.

“Oh, Ben... you’re sure about this, aren’t you?” Belle asked.

“Yes Mom, I am. One thing that I didn’t tell you about why I wanted to give the children on the island a chance was because I kept having dreams about a girl from there with purple hair. It wasn’t until Mal and her friends stepped out of the limo that I realized that she was the one that I have been dreaming about. You followed your heart when it came to loving Dad, despite his form at the time, and I’m choosing to do the same thing with Mal. It is not her fault that she was raised on the island. It was because of her mother’s horrendous actions, and the horrendous actions of the other villains, that led Dad to banish all of them to the island. I know that while Mal was raised by her mother, she has some good in her. She was the one who got us out of that dungeon. She was the one that held off her mother in order for the rest of us to get off the island, almost risking being stuck there again, just to make sure that the people that she cares the most about were safe from harm. I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for Mal. I might not know her Dad, but Mom didn’t know you either, she went with her heart and her gut, and she loved you. And I love Mal.” Ben said, and Mal could feel tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

“Well Son, I guess there’s nothing more for us to say then.” Adam said after a few minutes of processing what Ben had just said and as he turned to leave.

“Dad!” Ben exclaimed as his face fell.

“Your Majesty, may I say something?” Mal asked quickly, stopping Adam from getting too far.

“Of course dear.” Belle said with a smile.

“You don’t trust me and my friends, and you are right not to. You banished our parents, for crimes that they did against your family, and the families of your friends. And because of their banishment, we were born on the island, we grew up on the island, we knew nothing about life away from the island, so you have no idea who we are as individuals. You only have the knowledge of what our parents did to form your thoughts on us. My friends and I came here, with a plan from my mother, to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand and use it to break the barrier that you had placed around my home. When my friend Evie, who is now in a relationship with Dopey’s son, Doug, found out that the four of us were invited to attend Ben’s coronation next week, I made a love spell and put it into a cookie and tricked Ben into eating it. When we went on our first date the other day, he took me to the Enchanted Lake, and when he went swimming, the spell washed off, and he realized that he still loved me, even without some stupid spell telling him he should. When we got back from the date, being the gentleman that you raised him to be, he walked me to my room, but we found that Evie had already fallen asleep, so we came back here to talk. Ben told me about the rose petal, and what it means to both of you. Even after I told him everything I’m telling you now. And even after we got kidnapped by my mother, and we got back here, he still wanted to be with me. You might not trust me Your Majesties, but I don’t need you to, at least not right away. You have your reservations, and rightfully so, but I don’t resent you for what you thought was the right thing to do 20 years ago. Times have changed Your Majesties, and while the villains might not deserve a second chance, because believe me, their crimes were horrendous, Ben is right to believe that us children are innocent. Isn’t there something about being innocent until proven guilty? Because honestly, the hostility that I’ve heard about from you and others around school seem to think the opposite. That we’re guilty until proven innocent, and that isn’t fair to us.” Mal said, making sure that she held eye contact with at least one of Ben’s parents at all times.

“Mal, can you give us a moment with our son please?” Belle asked kindly.

“Of course you’re Majesty.” Mal said with a quick curtsy before walking out of Ben’s room and closing the door behind her.

As Mal waited in the hallway, she took some calming breaths. She could not wrap her head around the fact that she had just given a speech to Ben’s parents after having just met them 3 days before she was planning on meeting them for the first time. She had no idea if she had just hindered hers and her friends’ stays in Auradon, or improved their chances of staying, but either way, Mal had some clarity. Ben had forgiven her for what she had done, and what she had been planning on doing, and he still wanted to be with her, and get to know her. And after giving that speech to Ben’s parents, Mal knew that she did have someone that tethered her to Auradon. She did have, if not to the same extent as Evie, someone that she could grow to love.

As the thoughts of possibly coming to love Ben started to float around Mal’s head, she realize just what that meant for her future. Her mother had been right in saying that Mal would have a crown in the end. But it wasn’t going to be one that matched Maleficent’s. No, with Mal knowing that she could come to love Ben, any crown that she would get in the end would be one that matched his. Mal would be Queen of Auradon to Ben’s King, and if the speech she had just given gave any indication as to what kind of Queen she could be, Mal was sure that it would be a title that she would eventually get used to.

“You can come back in Mal.” Ben said after opening the door, causing Mal to jump a little bit.

“Did I screw up my friends’ chances of staying here in Auradon?” Mal asked once Ben closed the door behind her.

“Not at all Mal. You showed us that there are some things that need to change around here, and on the Isle of the Lost.” Belle replied as she walked over and pulled Mal into a hug.

“If my Son has offered you that rose petal, then it means that he has found the girl that my wife and I have always hoped he would find. We hadn’t considered that the girl would be the daughter of a villain, but we are happy none-the-less. And we look forward to getting to know you more on Sunday.” Adam said as Mal locked eyes with him over Belle’s shoulder.

“I look forward to getting to know you more on Sunday as well.” Mal said with a genuine smile as she pulled away from Belle.

“Ben, bring Mal to the palace for dinner on Sunday evening, won’t you?” Belle asked as she gave her son a kiss on the cheek and then took her husband’s arm as they walked out, even before Ben could respond to his mother’s request.

“Dinner? With your parents? At the palace?” Mal asked, trying to wrap her head around that last bit of information.

“I guess so...” Ben said, trailing off at the end as he tried to contemplate the information as well.

“I guess I did better than I thought with my speech.” Mal muttered as a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

“You were amazing with that speech.” Ben commented as he gently pulled her towards him and pressed his lips to hers. “You and your friends are making waves her Mal. And definitely in a good way.” He added.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some curse words here and there in this chapter, just as a heads up. As well as some mild sexual content mentioned.

Audrey was sitting on the bleachers, examining her nails, while Jay paced back and forth in front of her. He had been pacing for who knows how long now, and Audrey was getting bored... fast. With a sigh, Audrey stood up and stepped into Jay’s path. She was going to get him to stop pacing and actually talk to her. Her mother might not have been a woman of many words, after having been under a sleeping curse most of her life, but Audrey was not. She got things done.

“JAY! Stop pacing!” Audrey snapped as she stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face.

“Come on Princess, don’t stop calling me thief because I’ve kissed you.” Jay replied with a smirk.

“Fine... **_Thief_**... Stop. Pacing!” Audrey reiterated.

“Why should I? We’re coupled up now Princess. I have to meet your family in 3 days!” Jay retorted, stopping his pacing momentarily before resuming it again once he was done talking.

“Because it’s really annoying to try and have a conversation with someone when their back is turned half of the time.” Audrey replied.

“Princess, if the roles were reversed, and you were having to mentally prepare to be meeting my dad, you would be pacing too, so don’t fucking judge me.” Jay snapped.

“I’m not judging you. I’m trying to have a god damn conversation with you. The only way that you are going to be prepared, in any way, to meet my family is if you actually ask me about them.” Audrey said with a huff. She might enjoy kissing Jay, but he infuriated her, and she still wasn’t pleased with the fact that out of everyone at Auradon that could have wanted her, she had to be tied to one of the Villains’ Kids.

“Fine, you want to talk? Let's talk. You think I’m a prick, a lowlife scum, a mere thief who isn't worthy of being with you- in any universe. I think you're a prissy little princess who has never known what it's like to do something that is demeaning just so that you can live to see another day. We are two very different people, who come from two very different upbringings. I don't know why I'm drawn to you, I just know that I am. I know that your parents and your grandparents hate one of my best friends’ mother, and without even knowing her, probably hate Mal by default. Your family probably won't be thrilled with the idea that I like you, and there's a good chance that if you use the word ‘thief’ around them, in regards to me, they will constantly be looking over their shoulders for the entire amount of time that we even attempt a relationship, just waiting for a reason to get me kicked out of here. Now, my father might be proud that I landed myself a princess, because that was something he couldn't do himself, but I don't care what my father thinks. But I don't have much else to go on other than what he taught me. So like it or not Princess, you're stuck with me. At least until Family Day on Sunday. Then we can go from there.” Jay ranted. He might have been pacing, but since he had realized that he really like Audrey, he had given everything a fair amount of thought.

“So you have everything figured out already then, don't you? I guess you don't need me. Have fun meeting my family without any of my help.” Audrey huffed as she turned to leave.

“Audrey!” Jay snapped, causing her to stop.

“What Jay? What else do you have to say?” Audrey asked as she spun back around and shot him a glare.

“You do realize that relationships, of any kind, are a two way street, right? Just because you are a princess, doesn't mean that you don't have to work at getting to know your partner.” Jay said, his voice softening uncharacteristically. “Not everything in a relationship is going to be handed to you. Whether you want to admit it to just me or not, we are in this relationship together. It might have started because of my feelings for you, but I don't want to be in a one-sided relationship.” He added.

Audrey let out a sigh as she turned to look away from Jay. She didn't want to tell him that he had a point, because that would inflate his male ego. But at the same time, she was having a hard time denying the stirrings of feelings for the boy in front of her that were in the pit of her stomach. Audrey had been with Ben for so long that she had simply grown complacent with her feelings for him and could barely tell if she had still loved him at the end. So feeling _anything_ for Jay was new for her. Finally turning back to him, Audrey closed the distance between her and Jay.

"I am putting my reputation on the line by introducing you to my family as my date to Family Day. Do anything that messes with that, and we’re done. _If_ things go well, we will talk about relationship stuff.” Audrey said in a low voice before she pressed her lips to Jay’s. She really did enjoying kissing him.

After pulling away from the kiss, Audrey let Jay lead her to his dorm. Jay figured that Carlos would be somewhere else talking to Jane, so he figured the safest bet to try and start a real conversation with Audrey would be one that was in a more private setting. However, Jay wasn't sure if Audrey would actually want to sit down in his room, and he figured that she definitely didn't want him in her room just yet, so he went with his room. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

As they were walking, Audrey was constantly pulling away from Jay slightly when other students would pass them, and put some distance between them to make it seem like she wasn't going somewhere with Jay. Sure she said that she was putting her reputation on the line by introducing him to her family in three days, but Jay didn't see why she was finding it necessary to act so cold towards him currently. It wasn't like it was his father that had directly wronged Audrey’s family... that had been Mal’s mother. When they were still a good ten minutes from his dorm, Jay saw a couple students walking towards them and pulled Audrey closer to him and wrapped an arm securely around her waist before she saw the other students and could move away.

“What the hell Jay?” Audrey asked as she tried to push his arm away from her.

“Seriously Princess, you constantly moving away from me is getting on my nerves. I get that you are nervous to be seen with me, but if you don't at least try to pretend to be okay with being in my presence now, there's no way that your family is going to believe that I'm your date on Sunday. So get over it… or at least pretend to be getting over it.” Jay snapped.

When Audrey went to reply, Jay silenced her with a hard kiss. He had pulled her body flush against his and pressed his lips to hers. Then he pulled away as quickly as he had pulled her in and continued leading her to his dorm, his arm still securely placed around her waist. Audrey was dumbfounded. That kiss hadn't been like any of the other ones that he had given her to shut her up, and it was exciting. She found herself wondering how many different ways Jay could kiss her.

Once they had made it to Jay’s room, Jay made sure that the door was locked before pressing Audrey against it and moving in to suck on her neck. At first Jay didn't have his hands on Audrey’s body, since he was pressing his body to hers to keep her in place, and his hands were pressed against the door on either side of her, but soon his hands started to fidget. One hand moved from the door to Audrey’s chest while the other moved to her thigh, just below her butt, before wrapping her leg around his waist.

Everything for Audrey was going in hyper-speed. One second she was stepping over the threshold, and the next Jay had one of her legs wrapped around his waist and her hands were in his hair. Audrey heard the moan escape her lips as Jay pressed his body to hers, but she refused to believe that it had been emitted from her. When Jay pressed his body even closer, there was no way that Audrey could deny that the moan was from her. It was only when Jay pulled away from sucking on her neck to pull her shirt off did it occur to Audrey what was about to happen. She couldn't let that happen. She **_wouldn't_** let that happen.

“Jay, stop.” Audrey said forcefully as she pushed against his shoulders. Her voice did not sound as strong as she had hoped it would.

“You sure you want me to stop?” Jay said with his signature smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Yes I'm sure.” Audrey scoffed. Her ‘better-then-thou’ air was back.

“Fine, stay unsatisfied.” Jay commented as he more roughly-then-intended put Audrey's leg down before roughly pushing away from her.

“I wasn’t unsatisfied to being with.” Audrey snapped as she folded her arms across her chest after straightening out her clothes.

“Could have fooled me Princess.” Jay said with a roll of his eyes.

“Screw you Jay Voleur.” Audrey said, putting emphasis on his last name.

“You clearly don’t want to!” Jay yelled.

“THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!” Audrey exclaimed.

“Again, could have fooled me.” Jay retorted.

“That’s it! I can’t do this with you right now!” Audrey snapped as she whirled around and unlocked the door and flung it open.

“Audrey, wait.” Jay said suddenly.

“What is it this time!?” Audrey questioned.

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out Princess.” Jay commented as he moved towards the door.

With a roll of her eyes, Audrey walked out of the room, and Jay slammed the door shut behind her before hitting the wood in frustration. Jay wasn’t good with showing his feelings. At least when it was someone who didn’t know him very well. Mal and Evie and Carlos were his best friends, they all thought in a similar way to him, so they understood him in a way that no one else ever would. They tended to know how he was feeling before he fully realized it himself, so Jay saw no need in trying to express himself. But he wanted to show Audrey how she made him feel, he really just had no idea how he was going to do that.

Audrey had started running as soon as she heard Jay’s door slam. She was not going to let anyone see that she had tears in her eyes after just leaving the villain’s room. Her pride wouldn’t let her. And it was her pride that propelled her faster and faster towards her room. She needed to get to her own space, as far away from Jay, as soon as possible so that she could be alone when the tears really started to fall. However, when Audrey started to come up on the library, which, for some reason, was where her feet had led her instead of her dorm, she slowed down.

Entering the library, Audrey tried to blink her tears away as she walked towards the back. She could hear two voices back there, clearly Jane’s and assumedly Carlos’, and for some unknown reason, she was comforted to know that Carlos was there. Walking over to them, Audrey was surprised to find the two sitting close at one of the computers. Clearing her throat, Audrey felt a little guilty when the duo jumped apart and turned towards her.

“Audrey? What’s wrong?” Jane asked quickly as she stood up and walked to the older girl.

“What the hell did Jay do?” Carlos asked as he too went to her side.

“How often does Jay show how he’s feeling?” Audrey asked in a small voice.

“Barely ever. He’s never had to. Mal, Evie and I usually know how he’s feeling because we all tend to be feeling the same thing.” Carlos said as he rubbed Audrey’s back.

“Is he always such a prick?” Audrey asked.

“Pretty much.” Carlos replied.

“Why is he like that?” Audrey questioned, more to herself than to the other two, but got a reply anyway.

“He doesn’t know anything else. He’s even a prick to his only friends, but we know that deep down, he cares deeply for all of us, and would do anything to protect us.” Carlos said.

“So I should forgive him?” Audrey asked.

“Only if what he did was forgivable.” Jane spoke up.

“Okay. Thanks.” Audrey said as she wiped at her eyes and turned to walk away.

“What did Jay do Audrey?” Carlos asked again.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Audrey said before she left the library and headed back towards Jay and Carlos’ room.


	15. Chapter 15

When Carlos and Jane walked away from the others, there was a different kind of silence between them then there had been over the last few days. It wasn't particularly an awkward silence, but then again, it wasn't completely comfortable either. Carlos was lost in thoughts about how Fairy Godmother was going to react when it was made known that he was in the very early stages of a relationship with her daughter and Jane was lost in her own thoughts of how she felt about the De Vil boy. Sure, out of him and his friends, Carlos was probably the least evil of them all, but did that warrant the potential relationship? Jane wasn't sure. Yes, she was flattered that Carlos liked her, but she couldn't help but think that he only liked her because of the changes that Mal had made to her hair.

Of course, these thoughts had been plaguing Jane since they were chained together in the dungeon, but she hadn't figured out how to actually voice her concerns to Carlos. Jane had never had a guy like her in the way that Carlos seemed to, so she was nervous about mentioning anything that might scare him off. When she had shown him around the grounds and everything, they hadn't talked about themselves, they had talked about the history of the school, and the legends of their respective mothers. But the purposely avoided topics that were specifically about them.

“Jane… how will your mother react?” Carlos finally asked. There was no sense in beating around the bush.

“What do you mean?” Jane questioned as she started fiddling with the ends of her hair that were cascading over her shoulder.

“Will she be happy that we’re going to Family Day together? Wait… do _you_ even _want_ to go to Family Day with me?” Carlos asked. He hadn't really asked Jane to be his date to Family Day, their friends had just assumed that everyone in the group was okay with going with each other.

“Well, I mean, she might be surprised, but I'm sure she won't mind. At least as long as you don't hurt me or anything. And I hadn't really thought about going to Family Day… I've never really been into it. I'm kind of, sort of forced to go because of the fact that my mom is headmistress. Which is exactly why I don't see a point in going… I mean, I see her everyday here at school…” Jane rambled, to which Carlos simply smiled at her.

“Jane, would you like to be my date to Family Day?” Carlos asked in a small voice.

“That does sound like more fun than going with my mom.” Jane admitted.

 _“_ So that's a yes?” Carlos asked as his face lit up.

“Yeah, I'd really like to go with you Carlos.” Jane replied with a small smile. “Carlos?” She added quickly.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you like me?” Jane asked as she turned to fully face him.

“I'm not 100% sure. I guess it might be because you seem like the kind of girl who will actually take the time to get to know me before judging me on who my mom is. And that's something that I'm not used to experiencing.” Carlos replied.

“Oh.” Jane said before they fell back into _their_ silence.

As they continued heading towards the library, they didn’t talk about much else. Carlos was curious about the history of Family Day, but didn’t want to question it just yet. He wasn’t even sure how to phrase his questions about the event. Obviously it was going to be the families coming to the school, but why have just one day? And why couldn’t students just go home on the weekends? And technically, Carlos didn’t have to ask Jane. Since he had come to Auradon with his friends, Carlos had quickly picked up how to use the internet to search for things. Not that he didn’t not want to ask Jane, he just had another option.

Once they reached the library, Carlos held the door open for Jane. He might have been the lowest on the food chain of the villain’s kids, but Carlos was trying to show Jane that he was more than the life he was forced to live. When Jane smiled her timid smile of thanks at him, Carlos lit up. He vowed to do whatever he could to get Jane to smile more often. It was an amazing thing to behold, and Carlos hoped that he would lucky enough to cherish everyone one of those smiles. It was only as they made their way towards the back of the library that Carlos tested the waters and lightly took Jane’s hand in his. She tensed slightly, but she didn’t pull away. In fact, she was the ones that interlaced their fingers together.

“Jane?” Carlos asked quickly.

“Hm?” Jane replied.

“What is the meaning behind Family Day?” Carlos asked.

“What do you mean?” Jane questioned.

“Why was it started? Why is Family Day only one day? And why, if the school is going to promote the importance of family, aren’t students allowed to go home on the weekends to visit their families, instead of just having one day? Because I’m sure there are other students whose parents aren’t able to make it on Family Day due to distance...” Carlos elaborated.

“Oh... I’m not sure. I’ve never really thought about it that way. It’s just always been a thing that the school does.” Jane said with a small shrug.

After that, Carlos didn’t know what else to say. If Jane didn’t know, then there was no point in trying to pry the unknown information out of the girl. So Carlos stayed quiet, and so did Jane. Sure, when they got to the computers at the back of the library, Carlos pulled Jane’s chair out for her- he had heard that that’s what gentlemen do for the women in their life- before he pulled out his own chair and sat down next to her. Once they were both seated, and Jane started to click away on the keyboard, Carlos rested his hand on tops of hers.

Jane realized, when Carlos took her hand the second time that she was really starting to like the feelings she got at Carlos’ touch. Even though they weren’t overly sexual, like the way that Jane had seen Doug wrapping his arm around Evie’s waist or Ben wrapping his arms around Mal’s shoulders, it still sent tingles up Jane’s arm. And when Carlos had lightly placed his hand on the small of her back a few days ago, Jane a warm feeling had bloomed from the contact. Jane realized that while she might not know Carlos De Vil very well, she was really starting to like him, and there was a good chance that he would treat her right if things didn’t go horribly wrong on Sunday.

As the minutes past, the two young teens eased up and started a light conversation with each other. Jane asked Carlos about Dude, and Carlos asked Jane if she had ever seen her mother’s wand up close. When her face had gone blank at the question, Carlos assured her he was merely curious. Even if he and his friends were still planning on trying to get the wand (which they weren’t) nothing would come of Jane having seen it in the past. After that, their conversation drifted to magic in general. While Carlos had no interest in using magic himself (his mother was the only villain out of Maleficent, Evil Queen, Jafar and herself that hadn’t used magic to be a villain) he was curious what made it such a coveted thing to behold.

Neither of them realized how long they had been sitting there until there was someone clearing their throat behind them, causing Jane and Carlos jump apart (they also hadn’t realized that during their conversation, they had moved closer to each other until they were interrupted). Upon turning around, they were met with a tearful Audrey, who oddly seemed happy to see that Carlos was there. Carlos knew that the last person that Audrey had been with was Jay, so it was his best friend that had the princess in front of him in tears.

_“Audrey? What’s wrong?” Jane asked quickly as she stood up and walked to the older girl._

_“What the hell did Jay do?” Carlos asked as he too went to her side._

_“How often does Jay show how he’s feeling?” Audrey asked in a small voice._

_“Barely ever. He’s never had to. Mal, Evie and I usually know how he’s feeling because we all tend to be feeling the same thing.” Carlos said as he rubbed Audrey’s back._

_“Is he always such a prick?” Audrey asked._

_“Pretty much.” Carlos replied._

_“Why is he like that?” Audrey questioned, more to herself than to the other two, but got a reply anyway._

_“He doesn’t know anything else. He’s even a prick to his only friends, but we know that deep down, he cares deeply for all of us, and would do anything to protect us.” Carlos said._

_“So I should forgive him?” Audrey asked._

_“Only if what he did was forgivable.” Jane spoke up._

_“Okay. Thanks.” Audrey said as she wiped at her eyes and turned to walk away._

_“What did Jay do Audrey?” Carlos asked again._

_“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Audrey said before she left the library leaving Jane and Carlos alone again._

“Please don’t ever treat me so cruel.” Jane requested in the small voice.

“I would never do that Jane. I’m nothing like Jay.” Carlos said sincerely as he took both of Jane’s hands in his.

“Good.” Jane said with a watery smile as she blinked back tears.

“Why are you crying?” Carlos asked as he swiped the few tears that had fallen from her eyes away from her cheeks with his thumbs.

“I don’t know. I just got upset at seeing Audrey upset. We used to be best friends. Before high school and before she became a cheerleader.” Jane said with a shrug.

“Oh.” Carlos couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“It’s okay though. I mean, I’ve skipped some grades. I should only be a freshmen right now, not a junior.” Jane said with another shrug.

“Same with me. Dragon Hall didn’t care though. They just want to get us out of there as soon as possible. They don’t want us around longer than we have to be.” Carlos replied.

“That’s the name of the high school on the island?” Jane asked.

“Yeah, it is.” Carlos replied with a small nod.

“What was it like growing up there?” Jane asked in a small voice.

“It was hell.” Carlos muttered. “I lived in a manor called Hell Hall with my mother. Down the street from the castle that Evie and her mother were banished to for 10 years.” Carlos said.

“What about Jay and Mal?” Jane asked.

“They lived more at the heart of the island. We weren’t all friends to begin with. Believe it or not, Mal hated Evie. Out of all of them, Evie was my first friend.” Carlos replied.

“What happened?” Jane questioned.

“A lot.” Carlos said before launching into the story of everything that happened.

It was hard, at first, to find the right words to explain what had gone down with him and his friends before they had all been friends. While it had only been resolved shortly before they had heard of Ben’s proclamation, it seemed like it had all happened a lifetime ago, and with as much as they had all changed in the week and a half that they had been in Auradon, it seemed foreign to even recall the events of the horrible things that the four of them had done while on the island. But as he was getting closer to their arrival at Auradon Prep, it became a little bit easier. But then he explained everything that they had done in attempts to get Fairy Godmother’s wand, and he started to wish he hadn’t.

“So Mal was just using me to get to my mother and her wand?” Jane asked.

“I wish it weren’t true, but yes.” Carlos said as he looked down at their joined hands, hoping she wouldn’t pull away from him now.

“And you? When did your feelings for me start?” Jane asked. “Before or after my transformation from Mal?” She finished, and even though Carlos wasn’t looking at her right then, he could hear her voice choking back sobs.

“I’ve always thought you were beautiful Jane, even from the first time you came into our Goodness 101 class. But what I like most about you, is that you seem more confidant in yourself since Mal changed your hair. I hope that that is something that you hold onto for the rest of your life.” Carlos said as he looked back up at her.

“You really liked me before this new appearance?” Jane asked skeptically.

“Yeah, I did.” Carlos said with a nod and a small smile.

“Good.” Jane said as she quickly wiped her tears away and gave him another smile.


	16. Chapter 16

It was the morning of Family Day, and Evie was even more nervous than she had been 3 days previous when she had talked to Doug about it. She wanted to impress his family, but at the same time, she had no idea how she was going to do that. This was the first time that family was going to be a highlight of what was going on around her, and Evie, having only been raised by her mother, and only having her friends for a short period of time prior to coming to Auradon, didn’t know how to act around families. Especially around the family of the boy that she could possibly love.

Due to her nerves, Evie had barely gotten any sleep the night before, but she had woken up before the first rays of the sun were even streaming in through the windows of hers and Mal’s room so that she could get ready. She had taken a shower, making sure to use her odeur de pomme* body wash and shampoo; then she had towel dried her hair before lightly curling it. Once she was done with that, she applied a minimal amount of make-up, opting for a more natural look that Doug had commented in passing that he preferred to see on her. She hoped that a shade of pink lipstick that was just a tone and a half or so darker than her natural lip color, a smoky eye shadow and just a little bit of mascara would be a good way to meet Doug’s family. When she was surprisingly satisfied with her hair and make-up, Evie slipped back into the room and grabbed the dress that she had hanging by her sewing table and slipped it on.

Usually after her morning routine, Evie would check her appearance to make sure that she was Princess-Level Presentable, but today was different. Today was a new experience for Evie and she wasn’t going to base her appearance on what her mother had drilled into her head. So, after grabbing her clutch, Evie slipped out of the room, marveling at her ability to get ready in the morning without waking Mal up. Once she was sure the door was securely shut behind her, Evie turned and started to make her way towards the boys’ dorms. While she wasn’t going to let the little voice inside her head (that sounded a lot like her mother’s “magic mirror” voice) tell her that she could do better with who she was trying to impress today, Evie still wanted to get Doug’s opinion on how she looked before she met his family.

It didn’t take long for Evie to stop in her tracks as realization hit her. In all of the times that she and Doug had hung out, both prior to, and following, her short stint of being in a coma, they had never hung out in Doug’s room, so Evie had no idea where it was. Looking around to make sure that no one was watching, Evie went to pull her mirror out of her clutch but quickly dropped it back into the small purse when someone cleared their throat behind her.

“If you’re looking for Doug’s room, you don’t need a mirror to show you. I can take you there.” The voice was female, and slightly familiar, but Evie couldn’t place it. She spun around anyway to face its source and took in the girl leaning against the wall. She was beautiful, with an Auradon twist to the tomboy-ish look that Mal usually opted for. If this girl knew where Doug’s room was, there was a chance that they were close, and that meant closer than Evie herself was to Doug, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous.

“Who are you?” Evie asked. There was more that she wanted to say, but she bit her tongue. Why not drag this conversation out a little to see where it goes? Why should she jump all the way in and put an end to the conversation before it had even begun?

“I’m Brittany and you’re Evie. I’m Doug’s cousin and you’re his betrothed. I must say, Uncle Dopey will be happy to know that at least someone in our family was able to end up with someone in yours.” Brittany said with a smile as she slowly pushed away from the wall and moved towards Evie.

“What are you talking about? Who else in your family wanted to be with someone in my family? The only other person in my family is my mother, and I’m pretty sure that your entire family hates her.” Evie questioned, completely bewildered.

“Uncle Dopey had a huge crush on Snow White. Didn’t Doug ever mention that to you?” Brittany asked.

“No, he didn’t. But Snow White isn’t really part of my family. At least not since her father passed away years ago.” Evie said as she watched Brittany start to circle her.

“There might be some students and their families that don’t see you and Snow White as family, or even acknowledge that you have a title, but your mother and Snow’s father didn’t get a divorce. Snow’s father died, so Snow is still your step-sister.” Brittany explained.

“How do I know that I can trust you?” Evie asked. She wasn’t liking the way that the other girl was circling her like a vulture. Evie had seen enough of that growing up on the island, she didn’t want to experience it firsthand here in Auradon.

“You trust Doug, don’t you?” Brittany asked.

“Of course I do.” Evie said, appalled that Brittany would even accuse her of not trusting Doug.

“Doug and I are the closest out of all of our cousins. Doug trusts me the most, so if you trust him like you say you do, then you should have no reason not to trust me. I, on the other hand, am still trying to figure out if Doug’s trust in you was misplaced or not. So far, no red flags.” Brittany explained.

“Good to hear. Now can you show me where Doug’s room is? I would like to get his opinion on my outfit before I meet the rest of your family.” Evie said.

“I could, but I’m not going to. Doug shares a dorm with one of our cousins, and it’s still pretty early, so if you show up at their room at this time of day, wearing that, my cousin won’t care that you’re Doug’s betrothed. He will try to hit on you... in front of Doug.” Brittany warned.

“Which one?” Evie questioned.

“Hayden.” Brittany said with a small shake of her head just thinking about the things that she had seen and heard her cousin doing.

“Son of Happy, right?” Evie asked and Brittany nodded. “Well, um, I guess I’ll just head back to my dorm then... wait to head down to Family Day with my friends.” She added with a shrug.

“Of course not. You and I are going to go grab something to eat for breakfast, and then I’ll bring you to Doug’s room.” Brittany said with a smile as she linked arms with Evie and led the blue-haired princess in the direction of the cafeteria.

Evie was at a loss of what else she could do other than follow Brittany’s lead. Maybe having someone else on her side from Doug’s family would be a good thing. Then it wouldn’t feel like she and Doug were in this by themselves. Maybe, just maybe, if Evie could get Doug’s family to like her, one by one, then there could be a real chance that things could end up being okay for her and Doug. Glancing at the girl next to her, Evie tried to see herself through Brittany’s eyes. A Princess born on the island, attaching herself to a band geek who happened to be the son of one of her mother’s enemies. Evie let out a sigh. She could see why Doug’s family would be wary of Doug being with her. If she were in their shoes, she would be wary of her.

“Can I ask you something?” Evie questioned in a small voice.

“Ask away Blue.” Brittany said with a smile.

“Um, okay... do you know how to run a household?” Evie asked then mentally slapped herself. “That came out wrong... I know how to cook and sew and clean, my mother taught me how to be a good wife, but she never taught me how to have authority in a home.” She explained, letting out a sigh of relief when Brittany started laughing.

“First of all, never go into a situation thinking that you should have authority. That’s the fastest way to never be in control. Second of all, before you try to get any authority, get comfortable with the idea that you will have a household that is yours. When Ben is crowned King, your whole life is going to change. You are going to go from having been stripped of your title and birth right ownership of Snow’s childhood castle, to being a Auradonian Princess with a castle to call her own. But you won’t be going through any of that alone. Doug loves you, and he will be at your side through all of it. He’ll help you adjust to everything.” Brittany explained.

“Britt!”

“Oh boy. Here we go. Ready yourself Blue, my cousin is coming.” Brittany muttered before spinning around to face the source of the voice. “Sammy.” She said with a huge, and what Evie thought might have been forced, smile.

“I woke up this morning and you were gone. Now I see that you found Dougie’s girl.” Samantha said with a smirk in Evie’s direction.

“Yep, we were just heading to breakfast.” Brittany said. “And Evie, this is Samantha, daughter of Sneezy.” She added.

“Dougie did good, didn’t he Britt?” Samantha mused as she took in Evie’s appearance. “Keep her away from Hayden though.” She added before pulling Evie into a hug.

“Yeah, already planning on it. It’s early and Hayden goes after every girl that isn’t already family.” Brittany replied.

“That is true, Dougie needs to marry her already, that’ll put a stop to any advances that Hayden might try.” Samantha said.

“Doug and I are too young to actually get married. I’m sure that we’ll at least wait until we finish school before we start planning our wedding.” Evie interjected quickly.

“OH, you should totally have Gracie help plan the wedding. She has a great eye for detail.” Samantha said excitedly as she linked her arm through Evie’s other one and started to lead the other two in the direction Brittany and Evie had been going already.

“Gracie, daughter of Grumpy?” Evie asked.

“You got it.” Brittany said with a nod.

As Evie walked between Doug’s cousins, listening to them chitchat about this and that, she couldn’t help but feel hopeful about meeting the rest of her boyfriend’s family. If everyone else was as welcoming as Brittany and Samantha were being, then she should have nothing to worry about, right? But the comments that both girls had made about their cousin Hayden concerned Evie immensely. If he was as much of a sweet talker as they were making him out to be, then Evie wasn’t sure if she wanted to meet Happy’s son until she and Doug were married.

As the trio of girls was about to enter the cafeteria, the doors swung open, and someone crashed into them, knocking Brittany and Samantha over, and causing Evie to stumble before whomever had knocked into them caught her. Looking at the other girls to make sure that they were alright, Evie lightly pushed away from whomever it was that was still holding her before she finally looked at them, her face blanching at who she was looking at.

“Hey Princess.”


	17. Chapter 17

Evie stepped as far away as she could. She hadn’t wanted to see him ever again in her life despite a small voice in the back of her head telling her that they went to school together, and they had a class together, so she was bound to see him around again. Quickly helping Samantha and Brittany up, Evie kept her gaze locked on his and continued to back away. The girls didn’t really need to eat breakfast anyway. There would be food at the Family Day get together, right? They could just eat there.

“What do you want Charming?” Brittany asked as she stepped a little bit in front of Evie and glared at the prince standing in front of them.

“I want Evie.” Chad said with a shrug.

“That’s not happening Chad.” Samantha retorted.

“And what exactly do you two think you can do to stop me?” Chad taunted.

“We could get your parents. Or Fairy Godmother. Which would you prefer?” Brittany bit out.

“That’s an empty threat and you know it.” Chad retorted, despite taking a step back.

“Even if it were an empty threat, you seem scared. What? Don’t want your parents know that their only son and heir is harassing an innocent girl just because she turned you down?” Samantha asked with a smirk. “Oh, and just so you know, Brittany doesn’t make empty threats.” She added.

Before anyone could say anything else, none other than Fairy Godmother and Doug turned the corner. Seeing the scene in front of them, Doug was at Evie’s side in a second while Fairy Godmother narrowed her eyes at Chad.

“Chad Charming, come with me, this instant.” Fairy Godmother demanded, leaving no room for argument.

With a sullen expression, and a half-hidden glare at Brittany and Samantha, Chad drug his feet as he followed Fairy Godmother towards her office. Once they were out of sight, and out of earshot, Doug turned to his cousins.

“What the heck happened?” He demanded.

“Hey, don’t make it seem like you’re accusing us of setting your princess up. We are _your_ family Doug. We love you, and because you love her, so do we. We were taking her to get something to eat for breakfast when Chad came out of the cafeteria and ran into us.” Brittany said defensively.

“I’d reckon he did it on purpose.” Samantha scoffed.

“Sadly Sam, I agree with you. Chad has done nothing but cause problems for Evie.” Doug said sullenly.

“Doug, I’m fine.” Evie whispered to her boyfriend.

“E, you’re shaking. You are not fine.” Doug replied softly.

“Physically, I am fine. He only scared me, he caused me no physical harm... this time.” Evie said firmly.

“Where were you going to take her after breakfast?” Doug asked, looking up at his cousins.

“To your room. We, well, more _I_ was hoping that by then, Hayden would have already left, and you wouldn’t have to deal with him hitting on Evie. She’s a pretty girl and you know how Hayden can be around pretty girls.” Brittany said.

“He didn’t come back to the room last night.” Doug said with a shrug.

“Seriously? Where is he?” Samantha asked.

“I’m not his keeper Sam.” Doug replied.

“Um, guys, can we just get something to eat for breakfast? I need to eat something...” Evie said looking between her boyfriend and his cousins.

“Oh, Dougy, Sam, Britt, there you all. We have a... hello.”

“Gracie, this is Evie. Evie this is my cousin Gracie. And I promise, this is not how I wanted you to meet my family.” Doug introduced the new comer.

“Oh, this is Evie? You are pretty, by the way, so what are you doing dating my cousin? Surely you could have gone for someone better looking.” Gracie said with a smile and wink at Doug. “I’m kidding Dougy, you deserve so much happiness.” She added quickly when Doug looked like he was about retort.

“Thank you, Gracie, that’s very nice of you to say. And it’s okay Doug, it’s probably better this way. I think I would end up getting overwhelmed if I had met everyone at once.” Evie said, already starting to forget about the incident from just a few minutes before.

“Gracie, stop staring at Doug’s girlfriend and tell us what happened.” Brittany said snapping her fingers in front of her cousin’s face.

“Oh, right. Hayden is in nothing but his boxers, having slept wrapped around King Adam’s statue out front. And he won’t get down.” Gracie said, shaking her head.

“Again? I should have known.” Doug muttered under his breath.

“This is a common occurrence with your cousin? Him sleeping in nothing but his boxers, in the arms of Ben’s dad’s statue?” Evie asked, her eyes going wide.

“Sadly, yes.” Doug said with a small nod.

“And this is the guy that you were worried about me meeting?” Evie asked, turning to Brittany.

“He’s a complicated guy. He really does hit on pretty girls whenever he can, but he also tends to get into moods where he does stuff like this.” Brittany replied.

“We are talking about the son of Happy, right?” Evie asked, looking between the 4 cousins.

“Yes, we are, but still, there’s a lot of pressure on Hayden, _because_ his father is Happy.” Samantha said.

“Who’s trying to get him down?” Doug asked.

“David and Sander. It’s quite humorous. He is clinging to that poor statue for dear life while people keep clapping to change it from man to beast.” Gracie said with a giggle.

“Could people be less immature at this school? I mean come on.” Brittany complained.

“I was trying to help, but the look on his face was too funny, so I told the boys that I would come try to find the 3 of you.” Gracie said with a shrug.

“Well, we were going to treat Evie to breakfast before Family Day celebrations started, but I guess we are all needed to get Hayden down?” Samantha asked.

“I’ll take her to breakfast.” Gracie offered.

“NO!” Doug exclaimed. “Sorry Gracie, but I would much rather be with Evie right now. Britt and Sam can go with you to help David and Sander get Hayden down.” He said as he gave his cousin an apologetic smile.

“If I go back out there, I’m going to start laughing again. And I will end up not helping the guys.” Gracie argued.

“I can go eat breakfast by myself if you need to go help your cousin.” Evie offered.

“I don’t trust that Chad will take a punishment lightly. I don’t want to leave you alone right now Evie.” Doug said as brought a hand up to her cheek and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Fairy Godmother has him in her office, and is taking care of it. I’ll be fine for 10 minutes to eat breakfast.” Evie said.

“E, please, let me protect you.” Doug said, his need to keep her safe reflecting in his eyes.

“She doesn’t need your protection Doug. She was raised on the Isle.”

“This doesn’t concern you Jay, please stay out of it.” Evie said as she glanced towards her friend.

“Evie, you are like a sister to me. So is Mal. You both know this. Hell, everyone here in Auradon knows that. So, I can’t stay out of it. Now, with all that said, and while I know you don’t need anyone to protect you, I would feel a lot better if you let Doug stay with you.” Jay said walking over to the group.

“You’re Jafar’s son, right?” Gracie asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Right.” Jay replied with a nod.

Before anything else could be said, Evie walked away. This was not how she had wanted this morning to go. She couldn’t keep living in fear of what Chad might do. And she couldn’t let the people who cared about her the most do the same. That was no way to live. She had already been castle-schooled up until about a month before she, Mal, Jay and Carlos had come to Auradon (so about a month and a half ago), and she didn’t need more sheltering than that. Life in Auradon was supposed to be different.

“Evie?” Brittany asked, placing a comforting hand on Evie’s shoulder.

“Do you want us to send Doug out to help get Hayden down from the statue?” Samantha asked coming up on Evie’s other side.

“Because we totally will.” Gracie added.

“I just want to be able to breathe and do things on my own without everyone fussing over whether Chad might do something or not. I can’t live like this.” Evie said in a small voice.

“Then stand firm. Tell Doug and Jay what _you_ need. Be the Princess that you are meant to be, and be confidant. We will stand by you through anything.” Brittany said matter-of-factly.

“You barely know me.” Evie pointed out.

“You are already like family to us Evie. You love Doug, and he loves you. We stand by family.” Samantha said.

“And smack sense into the guys in the family when necessary.” Gracie added with a smirk as she glanced over her shoulder at Doug and Jay.

“Thank you. All of you.” Evie said with a small smile.

“Us girls need to stick together. There isn’t enough of us in this generation of the family.” Samantha said with returned smile.

Giving each of the girls a quick hug, Evie turned to her boyfriend and surrogate brother. Her body wasn’t shaking (as much) anymore, and she was standing at her full height. And the look on her face caused both Doug and Jay to swallow thickly.

“Here’s the deal. I need to be able to live my life without everyone worrying about Chad. Jay, you know that I didn’t have any peer interaction until a month and a half, and with everyone fussing over my safety just makes me feel like I’m confined in my mother’s castle on the Isle. I don’t want to live like that anymore. So, we are all going to go out front and help get Hayden down from the statue. And then we are all going to have breakfast together. We aren’t going to mention Chad. We aren’t going to be looking over our shoulders for him to pop up. Fairy Godmother is dealing with him as we speak, so we have nothing to worry about. Today is about family, and that is what I want us all to focus on. Is that understood?” Evie asked and smiled when both Doug and Jay nodded in agreement. “Good, now let’s go get Hayden out of a statue.” She said.


	18. Chapter 18

Evie didn’t know what to expect when she, Doug, Jay and Doug’s cousins got out front. But what she saw made her furious. It was bad enough that Hayden look horrified, but to have such a large gathering of other students standing around, laughing, and causing the statue to continue changing made it worse. Evie had experienced the ridicule from the students of Auradon Prep enough when she and her friends had first arrived, but to see it being directed towards a fell Hero’s Kid was horrible. So, with a determined, and probably slightly angry, look on her face, Evie pushed through the group of students and right up to the statue before turning to face everyone.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Evie yelled. “What is wrong with all of you? You see a guy looking horrified about the situation that he’s in, and instead of helping, you all just stand around and laugh? Today is supposed to be about Family. How do you think all your parents, men and women who are heroes, would react if they saw you acting like this? If they saw that, instead of helping him, you were laughing at him? I might not have been raised to be nice to someone, but all of you should have been. So, if you aren’t going to help a fellow Hero’s Kid, leave, now.” She lectured, not caring that she was a Villain’s Kid, whose own mother was the enemy of the family of the boy in question, before turning to see the shocked looks on Doug’s and his cousins’ faces. “What? It’s not right that they were just standing around laughing.” She said with a shrug.

“Hayden, David, Sander, this is my girlfriend, Evie. Evie, these are my cousins, Hayden, David and Sander.” Doug said, being the first of the group to recover from Evie’s little speech.

“Dude, she’s gorgeous. How did you get so lucky?” Hayden asked from where he was clinging to the back of King Adam’s statue.

“I was nice to her. Made her feel welcomed here in Auradon. And you might want to show some respect and gratitude. She could have just left you to suffer at the hands of our peers.” Doug retorted.

“Right... thanks Pretty Lady. But I...” Hayden started before seeing the looks his cousins were all giving him. “But I wouldn’t have been able to handle much more of that if it hadn’t been for you stepping in.” He finished.

“You’re welcome. And it’s nice to meet the rest of you. Sorry it wasn’t under different circumstances.” Evie said with a small nod.

“Got any magic to get him down?” One of the other two, Evie wasn’t sure if it was David or Sander, jokingly asked.

“Really Dave?” Brittany asked with a roll of her eyes. “Hayden, stop being a baby and just come down. Family Day starts in an hour and a half and we are all having breakfast with Evie and Jay.” She added with a pointed look at David and Sander.

“I’m sure Mal and Carlos will be joining us as well.” Evie piped up.

“Of course.” Brittany agreed with a nod.

“What is going on out here? And why is Hayden in nothing but his boxers, clinging to my dad’s back?” Ben asked as he hurried over to see the commotion.

“Prince Ben... I’m sorry Your Highness, but I’m afraid it has happened yet again. I promise you that it is never intentional.” Hayden said quickly.

“You say that every time Hayden, just come down from there.” Ben said quickly.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Hayden replied as he climbed down.

“Really? All we needed to do was get Ben out here. That’s good to know for next time.” Sander said.

“Hopefully there won’t be a next time Sander.” Ben pointed out.

“Let’s be real Your Highness, there’s going to be a next time.” David piped up.

“That’s enough. Hayden, go get ready for Family Day. Evie, Jay... Mal and Carlos are both going frantic trying to figure out where you two have been this morning. Now I see that you were dealing with Hayden.” Ben said, using his Prince-ly voice.

“I can’t speak for Jay, but I hadn’t been able to sleep last night, so I was up early this morning and got ready. I had wanted to get Doug’s opinion on my outfit before I ended up meeting his family later today, but I met Brittany first, since I realized, I have no idea where Doug’s dorm room is.” Evie said, throwing an apologetic smile at Ben.

“Britt! Why didn’t you just bring her to my room? We could have avoided a lot of stress this morning.” Doug asked, rounding on his cousin.

“Like I said, I thought Hayden would have been there, and I didn’t think you wanted to deal with him hitting on Evie first thing in the morning.” Brittany replied defensively.

“Doug, it’s fine. It happened. Let’s move on.” Evie said.

“Wait, what happened?” Ben asked.

“Chad went after Evie again.” Doug replied.

“He didn’t go after me Doug. Brittany, Samantha and I were heading to the cafeteria and he ran into us as he was coming out.” Evie corrected.

“And then he said he wanted you, basically implying that he wasn’t going to stop going after you.” Samantha offered.

“Where is he now?” Ben asked.

“With Fairy Godmother. She and Doug walked around the corner at just the right time and she brought Chad to her office.” Evie said.

“Then it’s fine.” Ben said with a small nod.

“Ben, I really don’t think it is.” Doug piped up.

“Seriously Doug? I told you I didn’t want to live my life worrying about what Chad may or may not do. I told you to drop it.” Evie snapped.

“E...” Jay began.

“Don’t Jay, just don’t.” Evie said before ran off in search of her best friend.

“She’s in your room Evie!” Ben called after the blue haired girl before turning to the friends that were standing around. “Jay, you should know better than to antagonize Evie. She’s one of your best friends, and Mal says that Evie is like a sister to you. And Doug, you’re a smart guy, you should know that when a girl tells you to drop something, you should drop it. Especially this. Fairy Godmother can handle this situation with Chad a lot more than you are giving her credit for.” He said with a sigh.

“But that’s just it Ben, she hasn’t been handling it. Chad has been terrorizing Evie for days now, and he’s not getting the kind of punishment that he deserves for it. He RAPED Evie, and nothing happened to him.” Doug argued.

“That’s enough Doug. How can anyone, Evie included, expect to move on with their lives when something traumatic happens, if the people closest to them can’t move on?” Ben asked.

Everyone standing around the young prince glanced around at each other, but Jay and Doug had the good sense to look ashamed. Ben was right, Evie was like a sister to Jay, and in his want to keep her safe, was treating her like she was fragile. Doug just let out a frustrated sigh. He was doing everything in his power that he could do to be a good boyfriend, but all he was really doing was pushing Evie to do something she didn’t want to do. He was angry that Chad was still an issue, but he also knew that Evie was tougher than she looked and despite knowing that, everything that had happened to her since she had shown up in his life was seemingly trying to tell him that she was tougher than she appeared. She had been hurt physically more times than Doug ever wanted to see her in, and in such a short period of time.

“Ben, can we talk?” Doug asked.

“Of course, Doug. Jay, go apologize to Evie, and head towards the festivities with her, Mal and Carlos.” Ben said with a nod.

After sharing a hard stare with his cousins, Doug waited until Brittany, Samantha, David and Sander walked away, following the same path that Jay had taken before he turned to Ben. Doug wasn’t the only that was dating a Villain’s Kid, and Doug desperately wanted to know what Ben was doing differently for things with Mal to be going as good as they were.

“What did you want to talk about Doug?” Ben asked once the others had left them alone.

“I’m trying to be a good boyfriend to Evie, but it just seems like everything that I say and do is wrong and that all I’m actually doing is pushing her away. She’s supposed to meet the rest of my family, my dad, at Family Day today, but instead, she has Chad doing everything he can to go after her, and I’m just making things difficult.” Doug explained.

“Doug, there is no real secret to relationships, if that’s what you’re asking from me. Mine and Mal’s relationship is not smooth sailing. And your relationship with Evie isn’t going to be smooth sailing. Doug, you and I are dating a couple of Villain’s Kids, if everything was smooth sailing, I would be worried. So, all I can tell you is to just listen to what Evie says. Because if there is one thing that I have learned from watching my parents all these years, and from the short time I’ve been with Mal, is that communication and listening to each other is the key. And if you don’t listen or you don’t communicate, then things are just going to continue going the way that you are.” Ben said as he threw an arm around Doug’s shoulder. “Now come on, we got a performance to get to.” He added with a smile.


	19. Chapter 19

When Evie had run away from everyone, there was only one thought that was running through her head. _‘What happened to the guy that brought me to my castle and told me that it was a boyfriend’s responsibility to make sure that he did whatever he could to make his girlfriend happy? Why isn’t Doug acting like the guy that I had started to fall for?’_ It probably wasn’t fair of her to be thinking this way about Doug, given everything that they had already been through, but she couldn’t help it. Doug wasn’t being himself right now, and Evie was starting to think that she was losing the only boy that she had ever had feelings for, before anything extremely serious could even happen.

And even though Ben had told her where Mal was, Evie wasn’t sure that she wanted to see Mal right now. Really, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to see anyone, or even go to Family Day. What Evie wanted the most was to escape to her castle and be alone for a bit. So instead of heading towards hers and Mal’s room, Evie made her way off campus. Away from her friends, the only people that she could really consider to be family, and towards her castle. Even if it wouldn’t officially be hers until after Ben was crowned King. And that was another thing that Evie couldn’t stop thinking about. Would Ben being crowned King really make a difference? She could always request an audience with King Adam and Queen Belle and talk to them about her title being reinstated.

 _'That won’t work. They were the ones that striped you and Mommy of your titles in the first place. They would never reinstate them. Stick to what Doug said... when Ben is King, he’ll reinstate you as a Princess of Auradon. You’ll have access to the rights to your castle, and you and Doug can live happily ever after.’_ Evie’s mind chided her. And she knew, deep down, that her subconscious was right. The King and Queen wouldn’t reinstate the title of a girl that grew up on the Isle of the Lost. Why would they? She had been raised by her mother, and Grimhilde had poisoned an apple and gave it to one of the King and Queen’s friends, and all out of pride and envy. Adam and Belle had no reason to believe that Evie was anything but like her mother. They probably wouldn’t even grant the request to meet with them. Or they would redirect it to Ben, and that would just defeat the purpose.

As Evie was nearing the edge campus, however, she found her path obstructed by the very person she was wanting to get away from. Coming to a stop, Evie wrapped her arms around herself and glared at Doug. She should have known that he would figure out where she was going and try to stop her. She just thought that she would be able to get off campus before he caught up with her. For a band geek, he was fast.

“What do you want Doug?” Evie asked.

“I want to apologize Evie. I let Chad and his constant need to get to you get to me, and I stopped listening to what you wanted, and what you needed. You asked to not be reminded about what he did to you, and to just move on, and that you couldn’t do that if people kept treating you like you were fragile, and I didn’t listen. Ever since Chad did what he did to you, I’ve been a horrible boyfriend. I’ll understand if you hate me right now, and if you really want to be alone, but don’t go to your castle alone, please.” Doug said, and he had the decency to look guilty for what he was apologizing for.

“How did you know that that’s where I was going?” Evie asked, her eyes narrowing a fraction more, and ignoring his pleas to apologize for now.

“Because I know _you_ Evie. You were humiliated in front of a lot of people because of me, and I know that you wouldn’t want to talk to anyone, so why would you go to your room?” Doug asked.

“We’ve only known each other for a few weeks, if that Doug. You don’t know me all that well.” Evie said, but her voice cracked in the middle, and it didn’t come out as confidently as she had hoped.

“Evie...” Doug said, sounding completely hopeless.

“Do you know that it wasn’t until just before we found out that we were coming to Auradon that Mal, Jay, Carlos and I were all friends, and that Mal actually hated me? Did you know that the four of us had to go on a quest together for us to be as close as we are now?” Evie asked.

“I... no, Evie, I didn’t know that. We talked a bit about our lives on our first date, but you never mentioned that.” Doug said, completely taken aback at the thought that the four best friends that he knew Evie and her friends to be had ever been anything but.

“When I was 6, I had a huge party, everyone was invited... except for Mal. Her mother and mine got into a huge fight about Mal being left out, and Maleficent banned my mother and I from the heart of the island, and I ended up being castle-schooled for most of my life. And then a month, if that, before we found out about Ben’s proclamation, I started up at the high school on the island. Mal figured out who I was, and she decided to get back at me for not having invited her to my birthday party a decade ago. She threw a party at Carlos’ place, invited me, and then locked me in a closet of Cruella’s fur coats. There were traps and everything set up in the closet, but Carlos found out about Mal’s plan, and he helped me through the closet. And then after that, the four of us ended up going on a mission to find Maleficent’s scepter. We faced a lot of adversity on that mission, things that we needed to face due to things that our parents had instilled in our minds. And throughout most of the journey, Mal still hated me, and was trying to get me killed, but when we all made it out, we were friends. There are things that you go through with people that you just can’t help but be friends with them after everything is all said and done. We are as close as we are because of that.” Evie explained.

“So... by my humiliating you in front of a bunch of people, it made you think of what Mal did to you, and you couldn’t face her, so you wanted to be alone, and decided to head to your castle?” Doug asked softly.

“More or less, yes. I can’t go through all of that again Doug.” Evie replied.

“Evie, I am so, so, so sorry. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?” Doug questioned.

“Doug, I really can’t find it in myself to forgive anyone right now.” Evie admitted.

“I understand.” Doug said as he lowered his head.

For some reason, probably from recounting a summary of what happened between her and Mal to Doug, Evie felt tears stinging her eyes. Blinking them away, she glanced around, not being able to meet Doug’s broken gaze. Doug, on the other hand, only felt even worse for how he had been acting the past few days after hearing about what Mal, Evie’s best friend, had put her through before the two of them had been friends. And all because Evie hadn’t invited Mal to her birthday party when they had been kids.

“Evie, will you please come back to the school, and meet the rest of my family at Family Day?” Doug asked.

“I just want to be alone right now Doug, I’m sorry.” Evie said with an apologetic look.

“Then please don’t go to your castle. You’ve only been there once, and I would hate it if you got lost.” Doug pleaded.

“You think that I can’t get there by myself? You think that I need an escort?” Evie snapped.

“That’s not... Evie, when I took you there, we were talking the entire time, getting to know each other, most, if not all, of your attention seemed to be on me and the conversation, rather than on the path that we were taking. That’s all I’m saying. I just want to make sure that you go there enough times with someone that it becomes second nature on how to get there.” Doug clarified.

“Get out of my way Doug.” Evie spit out before pushing past him.

“EVIE!” Doug called out after her, but his blue-haired Princess ignored him.

Not knowing what else he could do, Doug turned back towards the school, only to look up and see Mal, Jay and Carlos coming towards him, all of them looking like they were ready to kill him. _‘This is just what is needed right now? Mal, Jay and Carlos coming to murder me.’_ Doug thought sullenly.

“Where is Evie?” Mal asked.

“Heading to her castle.” Doug replied.

“By herself?” Jay questioned, glancing over Doug’s shoulder.

“She said she wants to be alone right now, and honestly, I don’t blame her. If I had been on the receiving end of what I did, I would want to be alone too.” Doug said.

“What did you do to her?” Carlos asked, his eyes narrowing.

“I was overprotective of her, and I humiliated her in front of a bunch of people. Something that Mal knows a bit about, from what I just found out.” Doug bit out.

“Excuse me?” Mal asked taking a threatening step forward.

“Evie just told me about how you tried to kill her to get back at her for not inviting you to her birthday party when you were 6.” Doug said.

“I thought we had moved past all of that?” Mal questioned, more to herself then to any of the guys.

“Wait... you mean that party that Mal threw at my mom’s mansion?” Carlos asked.

“Where she locked Evie in a coat closet that had traps in it?” Jay continued.

“That’s the one. And she was... at least she was until I humiliated her in front of a bunch of people.” Doug said.

“We need to go after her. Show us the way Doug.” Mal said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s not happy with me right now, and she really does want to be alone right now. I’ve already been acting like a horrible boyfriend since Chad raped her, the least I can do now is respect her wishes to be alone.” Doug replied.

“Then we’ll go alone.” Mal said with a shrug.

“None of you know how to get there.” Doug pointed out.

“Then what are we going to do?” Jay asked.

“We are going to respect Evie’s wishes. We are going to let her be alone for a bit. We’re going to head back to Family Day.” Carlos said as he stared at Doug.

“You really think that with everything that we’ve all been through in the past few weeks, that leaving Evie alone is a good idea? She was the most sheltered on the Isle.” Mal argued.

“What’s your point Mal? She’s just as tough as you or Jay, and she’s just as smart as I am. She can take care of herself for a few hours.” Carlos said firmly.

“C...” Jay started.

“No. Evie wants to be alone, so we are ALL going back to Family Day.” Carlos said before turning around and heading back towards the campus with Doug behind him.

Despite Carlos’ determined stance to let Evie be alone like she wanted, Mal and Jay weren’t as sure, and as Carlos and Doug walked away, they stayed put, looking from each other towards the direction that they assumed Evie had gone. Once they were sure that Carlos and Doug were out of ear shot, Jay finally broke the silence.

“Are we really going to let Evie go off alone? What if something happens to her?” Jay asked.

“I’m not sure what we should do. Part of me wants to go after her, to figure out if she’s really over what I did to her or not, and the other part of me wants to go back to Family Day and face meeting Ben’s parents. I mean, she is a big girl Jay. She can take care of herself. Just because she’s probably been through the most since we’ve been here doesn’t mean that she’s a weakling. She’s just being targeted.” Mal said.

“It sounds like you want to go back to Family Day more than you want to make sure Evie is okay.” Jay commented.

“I don’t _want_ to go back to Family Day, because I can already see how the King and Queen are going to react to me dating their son but getting that over with sounds better than risking Evie getting madder at me, so I think it’s the lesser of two evils at the moment.” Mal explained.

“So, what do we do? Follow Evie, to a place that neither of us have been to; or head back to Family Day with Carlos and Doug?” Jay asked.

“Let’s head back. We- _I_ \- can talk to Evie when she gets back.” Mal said with a sigh.

And with that, they finally turned and followed Carlos and Doug’s path back to the school. By the time the four teenagers reached the part of the school grounds where Family Day was being held, it was in full swing. Doug quickly said good-bye to Mal, Carlos and Jay and headed over to where Ben, Chad, Audrey and Lonnie were waiting for him so that they could preform Be Our Guest for the visiting family members. It was an abridged version of the song, so it was over a minute or so after they started, and once he was in the clear, Doug made his way over to where his family was talking to Snow White. Seeing Snow there made Doug come to a quick stop. She was there for Evie... she was there to meet her step-sister. How the hell was Doug supposed to let Snow know that he was the reason Evie wasn’t there? Gracie was the first one to noticed Doug standing apart from the rest of them.

“Hey Dougie, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Gracie called over to her cousin with a playful tone, but when Doug’s face fell, the teasing was instantly replaced by concern. “What happened Doug? Where is Evie?” She asked.

“She’s not coming today.” Doug said, suddenly finding it hard to swallow around a growing lump in his throat.

“Where is she?” Sam asked.

“She’s going to the castle. Snow, I’m really sorry. I screwed up, and now your step-sister isn’t here for you to meet her.” Doug said.

“ _The_ castle? As in, the one that I grew up in?” Snow asked.

“That would be the one. I took her there on our first date, and now she’s determined to go there, by herself, after having only been there once, just so that she can be alone for a bit.” Doug apologized.

“Well, it is Family Day, and no one should be alone. I will see you all later.” Snow said before she turned to walk away.

“Snow, wait... let me come with you, please.” Doug said.

“This is something that I think needs to be done by just me, Doug. I appreciate the fact that you love my sister, and want to make sure that she’s safe, but if what you said is true, and you are the reason that she went to the castle in the first place, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for you to come with me.” Snow replied with a sad smile.

“Then if not me, at least bring one of Evie’s friends. If I screw up again, and she goes there, I want at least one of them to know how to get there to make sure that she’s okay.” Doug insisted.

“Point one of them out to me, and I’ll take them with me.” Snow said with a nod.

Doug walked with Snow over to where Jay and Carlos were standing by the chocolate fountain, given that Ben had just called Mal over to officially meet his parents. Mal looked like a nervous wreck for a split second before her walls went up, but it was a split second that Doug saw, and he suddenly felt bad for all the VKs, not just Evie. No one in Auradon could imagine ever living on the Isle, and Mal had the worst parent of all with Maleficent being her mom. It made Doug wonder about the non-prominent parents to the VKs. Surely Evie and her friends knew both of their parents, right?

“Jay, Carlos, this is Snow White. Snow, this is Jay and Carlos. Guys, Snow is going to head to the castle to try and talk to Evie, but since it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to go with her, I think it’s best if one of you two go. That way, if I screw up again, which I really hope that I don’t, and Evie heads there to have some alone time, one of you will have an idea of how to get there.” Doug explained after the quick introductions.

“I’ll go. I was Evie’s first friend when she was reintegrated into school on the Isle, and the one that saved her from my mother’s closet. She might be more at ease with it being me.” Carlos offered.

“Thank you, Carlos.” Doug said with a nod of agreement.

“We’re all worried, Doug.” Jay commented as Snow and Carlos walked away.

“I really screwed up, Jay. I humiliated her in front of a group of people, making her relive a painful memory from the Isle. A memory that I hadn’t even known about before today. I’m a crappy boyfriend.” Doug said sullenly.

“You’ve only been her boyfriend for a couple weeks. There is 16 years’ worth of memories, both good and bad, for both of you to learn about each other. And there is no way that 2 people can rehash that many memories in a couple of weeks. Just give it time, I’m sure everything will work out. Besides, you have the knowledge of knowing that if you screw up so bad that Evie moves past being upset, and goes straight to being pissed off, that Mal, Carlos and I will make your life a living hell for hurting her. But for now, you acknowledged your mistake, you’ve apologized, and you’re trying to learn from said mistake so that you can stop yourself from making it again. I don’t know a thing about dating, but that doesn’t sound like a crappy boyfriend to me.” Jay said.

“Wow, Jay, I didn’t know you were so deep.” Doug said, a half smile tugging at his lips.

“What can I say? I am a man of many secret talents.” Jay replied with a grin.


End file.
